There's More Than One Way To Shine
by FromDrabToFab
Summary: A month after Moana and Maui's adventure to restore the Heart of Te Fiti, Moana starts to wonder about a certain monster they left for dead. Was Tamatoa worth saving?
1. Motunui

Motunui was quiet. It had been about a month since the Heart of Te Fiti was restored, and the island's inhabitants had sailed across the sea. They had discovered a new island, and were working on building it up to be a new home.

There was a splashing sound coming from the beach, the source being the young not-princess, Moana. She danced with the ocean, twirling a javelin about the same length as her in strategic, yet beautiful motions. She had crafted the weapon herself, with a bit of help from Maui. It took them many tries to build a decent enough one, but the final product was rather beautifully carved. The water danced with her, swirling around her weapon and her body in smooth, swift motions. The sea enjoyed her company, and had grown even closer to her over the days following their adventure.

Moana liked coming back to Motunui every once in a while. It comforted her, made her feel a bit nostalgic. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking in the breeze and the light, salty mist that the ocean provided. Unfortunately, not paying attention to where she placed her feet, she accidentally tripped on a shell, plopping to the ground. An obnoxious laugh came from several feet behind her, and she cast an unimpressed look at the demigod that had been watching her.

"I could watch that all day." Maui snickered smugly, leaning on his hook as he grinned at her.

Moana's expression changed from a look of unamusement to one of mischief. She pointed her javelin at Maui, and a jet of water shot out of the ocean and knocked him off his feet. He shouted in surprise when he fell, but moments later the two of them were laughing hysterically at themselves.

The pair lay in the soft sand as the sun set, casually conversing about whatever topic came to their heads. After a bit of silence, Moana noticed a small crab starting to crawl on her leg, she sat up, watching the crab with a quizzical look. The crab struggled to climb up her smooth skin, and it ended up slipping and falling on its back. Moana's eyes widened a bit. It wasn't often that she had thought about Tamatoa; he was one of the less pleasant memories of their journey to restore the heart. Occasionally she would wonder about what Maui's history with him was, but she never really thought to ask. Now, however, she seemed to be wondering about something else. After its hopeless struggles to get back upright, Moana carefully picked up the crab and set it back down in the sand, gently pushing it towards the ocean. As she watched the creature scuttle away, she began to ponder aloud. "… I wonder if anything's happened to him."

"Huh?" Maui said, glancing over at her. "Who?"

"Tamatoa." She answered.

Hearing that name made the demigod roll his eyes. "Who cares?" He responded idly. "It's not like we have to worry about that guy anymore, so you don't need to go wasting your thoughts on him."

Moana frowned again. In a way, her friend was right. She didn't have to think about him anymore, and why would she want to? He did try to kill them, after all…

… but was that entirely his fault? They were the ones trespassing in his home, after all… She supposed he kind of had a right to deal with intruders in his own way. And it's not like he went out of his way to steal Maui's hook, he just found it after it had been lost.

The thought of the giant crustacean still scared her a bit, though. She didn't fancy almost being murdered, after all. But still, there was this… lingering feeling. Worry?

She remembered the geyser shooting Maui and herself out of Lalotai, and flipping the crab on his back in the process. It couldn't be easy, she thought, for him to get back on his feet. It wasn't fair that they left him to die like that, was it?

"Do you think he's still alive?" She asked Maui. "How long can monsters even go without food or water?"

Maui sat up, giving her a puzzled look at first, but his expression quickly turned to one of amusement. "Monsters can go weeks without eating, Moana. Besides, crab cake needs to diet, anyways." He chuckled at his own joke, then looked a bit confused again. "Why? You're not seriously worried about that guy, are you?"

Moana could only give a slight shrug. It was strange, but she thought she'd feel a bit better if she knew he was okay. "I think… we should check on him." She said. "At least make sure he's upright again."

Maui's face went blank. "You're serious." He realized with disbelief. "You actually want to go back down there to… to check on that crab? Did you forget that he tried to kill us?"

Moana let out a long sigh. "I know, I know, but… does that really mean he deserves to starve to death? We broke into his home, after all, and…" Another sigh. "I don't know, Maui. I'd just feel better knowing that we didn't kill him."

Maui did not seem enthusiastic about this idea. Moana gave him a pleading look. "Pleeeeeaaaaaaase?" She egged on. "I can't do it without you." Maui only rolled his eyes again in response. Moana continued, eyebrow raised. "C'mon, didn't you used to be friends or something? Surely you don't want to kill someone who used to be your—"

"Fine," He cut her off, agreeing to get her to stop talking. "We'll head off in the morning."

Moana grinned victoriously. "Sounds like a plan."


	2. Lalotai

Lalotai hadn't changed since their last visit. Still teeming with terrifying creatures, though Moana seemed calmer around them now that she's gotten better at fighting, especially with her trusty new javelin. Moana and Maui made their way to the decapod's lair, the damage of their last encounter still very apparent.

"Well, looks like he managed to get himself up!" Maui stated, gesturing to the area where the crab once lay. Gold pieces were scattered about, and the dirt seemed to have been recently displaced; probably from the struggle of getting back up. "So, are you satisfied now?" Maui inquired, ready to leave.

Moana looked around, deep in thought. Her eyes went from the unsettled dirt to the wreckage of the cave. "If he got back up and was fine, why wouldn't he fix his lair?" She wondered aloud.

Maui shrugged. "Maybe he thought it wasn't worth the trouble and found a better one. Could be a number of reasons."

Moana shot him a sly grin. "You just want me to come back to Motonui and forget about all this."

The demigod shrugged again, not saying anything but confirming her guess with a nonchalant smile.

She rolled her eyes, but in good humour. She then went back to examining the surroundings, frowning when her eyes landed on the fallen treasures. "And why wouldn't he pick these back up…? It seems like he lost a lot of it…"

This part also struck Maui as odd. He knew better than anyone that Tamatoa wouldn't pass up any of his collectibles. "Okay, I admit that's a little weird." He agreed.

Moana continued to look around, then noticed what seemed to be a trail of his fallen trinkets. She started to follow it, Maui doing so as well. Moana's face twisted into a look of concern. "Judging from these messy prints in the sand and how the treasure keeps falling off, he must've hurt himself when he tried to get up…" She concluded quietly. She went completely silent when she started to hear some sounds off in the distance. Exchanging curious glances with Maui, the two of them crept closer to the source of the noises.

They reached the edge of a ravine where the noises seemed to come from. Peering over, they saw a terrifying sight.

Tamatoa was in terrible shape, barely able to stand. All of his right limbs appeared to be injured, probably from his struggle to turn himself upright. He was supporting his weight on his left claw, that seeming to be the only reason he hadn't fallen yet. His eyes were focused on a creature in front of him, a centipede-like monster with horrifyingly long spider-like legs. Its head sort of resembled that of a mantis, and its three long tails looked as sharp as blades. The creature was mostly black with some green undertones, and it was jabbing at the crab cruelly with its tails. Tamatoa tried to bat them away, but stumbled due to moving his claw and quickly had to lower it again to prevent himself from falling. He let out a low growl of irritation as the creature laughed eerily. The thing slashed its sharp tails across Tamatoa's already badly injured right limbs, causing a sharp outcry of pain to come from the crab. "Not so tough, are you?" The other creature taunted, continuing to torment the crustacean as it couldn't fight back.

Moana narrowed her eyes in anger. She didn't care if Tamatoa was a selfish jerk; she hated seeing any animal being harassed like that, especially a creature of the sea. Gripping her javelin tightly, she started to move towards the scene, but she suddenly got yanked back by Maui. "Are you crazy?!" He exclaimed. "Crab cake is not worth your life, Moana!"

"Then help me!" She retaliated, dead-set on attacking the other monster.

"No! We are _not_ cleaning up his mess for him at such a risk" Maui refused.

Moana started to say something else, but then paused, getting a cliché idea. Her eyes widened and she shouted, "Oh, look out!" and pointed behind Maui.

Alarmed, Maui whipped around, glowing fish hook at the ready. When he saw nothing, he turned around again to see that Moana had dashed down towards the clearing. With a facepalm, Maui grumbled. "You are going to get us killed one of these days…"


	3. Well This Is Awkward

The creature smashed Tamatoa into the ground. The crustacean tried desperately to force himself to stand, but he simply didn't have the strength. _Pathetic,_ he thought to himself. _Absolutely pitiful._ He winced, not so much out of pain, but out of the shame he felt about his current state of weakness. _I am the most beautiful, most powerful being in all of Lalotai. I am supposed to be better than this. I'm not supposed to be bested by such a hideous creature…_ Tamatoa closed his eyes, giving up on fighting back. He knew it was pointless. _Tamatoa, why are you so useless?_ As the creature aimed to lash him again with a tail, he suddenly heard it screech in pain. Opening one eye, he saw Moana jabbing her javelin into the creature's back, disorienting it for a moment. Tamatoa immediately scrambled to move while it was distracted by her, basically dragging himself with his good claw to a nearby rock structure and huddling underneath it. He retreated almost entirely into his shell after turning to watch this new development.

Moana drew back her javelin, jumping off of the monster and swiftly rolling to the side to avoid the swing of its tail. Being small has its advantages. "You'll pay for that, human…" The creature snarled angrily. It reared back one of its legs to strike her, but paused when it heard the call of an oncoming hawk. Maui divebombed the creature, slashing at its face with his talons. The monster recoiled at the sight of the demigod. Deciding that this wasn't worth the trouble, the centipede-like being scurried away, leaving the three alone. With a blue flash, Maui returned to his humanesque form, giving Moana an annoyed look.

"See?" Moana said, casually twirling her javelin. "That wasn't so bad."

"You're lucky that monster was a coward." He retorted. He then turned his attention to the crab, who had been eyeing them suspiciously from beneath his temporary shelter.

Cautiously, Moana took a few steps in his direction, still far enough away so that Tamatoa couldn't reach her. Not knowing what exactly to say to him, she simply asked, "Umm… Are… you okay…?"

Tamatoa's eyes narrowed with hostility, and his only response was a low, weak growl. But he didn't dare move towards her with Maui around. He cast the demigod a wary glance to see that Maui had been watching him in the same manner. Tamatoa wouldn't stand a chance against him like this, not only weak from his injuries but from hunger as well. Feeling trapped, he remained perfectly still underneath the rock structure, turning his attention back to Moana.

Moana frowned, not entirely sure how to help him or how to make this less… awkward. She turned to Maui and asked, "Could you find some fish? He's probably starving."

Maui seemed skeptical. "And leave you alone with crab cake over there? I don't think so."

"I promise not to get too close to him," she tried to persuade him. "and besides, it's not like he could pose much of a threat right now, anyways." She then raised an eyebrow.

Maui thought about it, considering the points she was making, and finally agreed. "Fine." He said. He then turned to the crab, brandishing his hook threateningly. "I can use my hook now, crab. Try anything and I'll take off another one of your legs." He warned the creature before transforming into a hawk again and flying off.

Tamatoa watched him go, seeming a bit more relaxed after he left, but only just. Again, his attention turned to Moana.

Moana shuffled her feet awkwardly, still unsure of what to do or say. She noticed that the look in the crustacean's eyes had turned from one of annoyance to one of sheer anger. Not that she could blame him, of course; it was kind of their fault that he's in this position in the first place. But she had hoped he would at least be a little thankful that they helped him. Oh, well.

It was strange to see him so quiet. The small amount of time that she had spent with the crab before was filled with endless chatter and singing from his end, but now he just seemed so… silent. Withdrawn. Moana turned her head slightly, trying to get a better look at Tamatoa's injured side. No wonder it was so hard for him to move, she figured. Though the limbs on his right side were still in one piece, they appeared to be badly injured. The missing leg on his left side probably made it even harder for him to move like this. Moana started to walk a little closer, eyes so fixated on his injured claw and legs that she almost didn't notice when he snapped his left claw at her. She jumped back, taking that as a warning not to get any closer. Sighing, she sat in the dirt several feet away from him.

After a few more minutes of awkward silence, Maui flew back with an abnormally large fish in his clutches, dropped it in between Moana and Tamatoa, then flew off to get another.

Tamatoa, much to his dismay, visibly flinched in fear at Maui's sudden appearance, and almost immediately relaxed again when he left. Moana frowned slightly upon noticing this.

 _Great,_ Tamatoa thought to himself. _Like I need her_ _judgment_ _now…_

Moana started to stand up again, earning another weak growl from the giant crab. Biting her tongue, she tried to push the fish closer to him with her javelin, careful not to make any sudden movements. Tamatoa eyed the fish, remembering how hungry he was. He then narrowed his eyes at Moana.

She paused at this, analyzing the crab carefully. She continued pushing the large fish closer to Tamatoa until she was sure he could reach it, then took several steps back.

Tamatoa shot her another suspicious glance, then started to pull himself up a bit to get closer to the fish. Eyes still on her, he grasped the fish with his claw, nimbly pulling it towards himself. Seeing Maui return, the crab immediately shrank back as far as he could under the rock structure.

Maui landed, turning back to his usual form and slinging the next fish over his shoulder. "Any trouble?" He asked Moana, who shook her head in return.

Satisfied, he threw the fish in front of Tamatoa. "Good. Didn't want things to have to get ugly." He said casually, shooting the crab a warning glance.

Tamatoa, though clearly on the defensive, glared at the demigod in return before hungrily picking at his two fish. His movements were frail and slow.

Maui laughed a bit at the sight of this. "Wow, there really IS something wrong with you. I've never seen you eat that slow."

The crustacean cast another dark glare at Maui, clearly not in the mood for his teasing, but couldn't really do anything about it, so he simply continued eating. It felt so good to finally have some food that he didn't mind their presence as much right now.

Moana pulled Maui over to the side, whispering to him, "We can't leave him down here."

Maui folded his arms, not liking her insinuation. "Are you suggesting we bring him back to the surface? Haven't we done enough?"

"What if that thing comes back?" She speculated. "Or some other monster?"

"It's Lalotai, Moana. Monsters will be monsters—" He paused when they heard a thud. Turning around, they saw that Tamatoa started sneaking away, but stumbled and fell, thus making the sound. He quickly shrank back under the rock after his attempt failed, cursing himself under his breath.

Moana turned back to Maui, one hand on her hip as she gestured to the crab. "Need I say any more?"

Maui gave Tamatoa one more side glance, sighing. It was definitely abnormal to see him this… pathetic. Even he was starting to get a bit concerned, seeing his former friend like this. "… Okay. You're right." Maui agreed. He still didn't like the idea of having the decapod around them, but he was starting to understand why Moana thinks that would be better than leaving him down here.

The two of them neared the large crustacean, who watched them discreetly. Moana spoke in a gentle voice. "We're going to help you, okay…?" Tamatoa simply scoffed at her attempt to reassure him. She exchanged glances with Maui. The demigod stepped forward, lifting his hook. This earned a reaction from the crab, as he shrank back as much as he could and weakly muttered, "D-Don't…!" God, why did he have to stutter? He hated sounding so feeble.

Moana blinked, surprised to finally hear him say something. Maui raised his hands nonthreateningly and said "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. We're going to help. Honest."

The crab scoffed again, narrowing his eyes distrustingly. "Right. That's why you threatened to take another leg off. And she's just down here to hear more stories about my prowess, right?" He asked sarcastically, gesturing to Moana. She still couldn't believe how weak his voice was.

"Look," Maui stated starkly. "You don't really have a lot of options, here. Either you trust us just this once, or we leave you to the other monsters. Your choice."

Tamatoa hesitated, glancing around at the surroundings. It's true that the monsters of Lalotai were merciless; he should know. He is one. Taking much time to consider his options, he eventually let out a quiet, defeated sigh. "Fine..." He murmured.

Lifting his hook again, Maui morphed into the largest bear Moana had ever seen. Probably the only bear she had ever seen, come to think of it. He was only about a quarter of the size of Tamatoa, but due to his super strength, that shouldn't be a problem. Acting as a sort of crutch, he carefully hoisted up the monster's weakened side, Tamatoa grimacing at the pain.

They walked slowly as they left the ravine, Moana casting quick glances at the injured crab the whole way back. His shell had lost much of the treasure that had covered it; she was surprised that so much still remained, to be honest. He seemed to notice the lack of treasures as well, as he kept casting longing glances at the dropped artifacts. It seems as though he would have loved to recollect them as they were walking back, but he needed to use his claw for support right now. The moment he saw Moana staring at him, he averted his eyes from the treasures that used to be his, focusing on the path ahead.

Moana sighed quietly, knowing that he valued his treasures like they were a part of him. It must be terribly frustrating to have to walk past all the lost pieces with no way of getting them back right now.

In an attempt to get on the crab's good side, she started to pick up as much of the treasures they passed as she could carry. Maui knew what she was doing immediately and chuckled under his breath. Tamatoa just looked confused and suspicious all at the same time. He didn't like people touching his things. But he couldn't do much about it now, especially with the shapeshifter around.


	4. Through The Sea

When they got back to Tamatoa's damaged layer, the crab hesitated for a moment. "I am not going into a geyser." He growled, certain he would end up on his back again. Moana, still making every effort not to drop any gold, smiled slyly. "I don't think we'll have to." She responded confidently. Her bond with the water had strengthened greatly since last time, and as such, she was able to call on it in new, useful ways. "But first… Maui? Could you lift me up, please?"

Maui, careful not to shift too much support off of the crab, lifted Moana in one paw up to Tamatoa's shell. Tamatoa watched her, more confused rather than upset, as she placed the treasure she had carried back onto his shell. Looking over him now, it really was a miniscule amount compared to the size of him. "Sorry I couldn't carry more," She apologized, rubbing the back of her head as Maui put her back on the ground. Tamatoa blinked, looking over the baubles she had returned. She seemed to have had made a point of picking up the sparkliest trinkets she could find. Though it was indeed a small amount in comparison to him, he was still pleased to at least have a few of his shinier possessions back. He wouldn't dare voice his appreciation to the human that got him into this mess, though. This was still her and Maui's fault, and attempting to make it up to him like this was a laughable notion.

Moana raised her javelin into the air. She no longer needed words to communicate with the ocean, it seems, as a large pillar of water lowered down to them in reaction to her gesture. "The ocean will take us up!" She stated. "No need to take a geyser."

Again, the crab hesitated. Not only that, but he hastily took a few steps back, almost causing Maui to drop his injured side. "What are you doing?!" The demigod exclaimed in irritation, barely moving in time to hold him up.

The crustacean was watching Moana and the pillar of water, a tingle of nervousness rising within him, but he covered it up with a look of suspicion. "How am I to know you won't just drown me?" He hissed.

Moana glanced at the ocean, eyebrow raised. The ocean had extended a small wave from its pillar and seemed to be returning her glance. "Umm…" Moana pondered, "I… don't really know how to reassure you on that one. You'll just have to trust us."

Tamatoa felt a flash of anger pass through him. Again with them expecting him to trust them. They had to have been out of their minds to expect that.

… But it's not like he had much of a choice. Annoying as it was to admit, they were right about him not standing a chance in Lalotai right now. It's not like he had much reason to stay, anyways. His reputation and status were basically ruined after his humiliating run-in with the demigod and human before, and spending so much time helplessly on his back. The only thing he would really regret leaving behind were his fallen valuables. They were the source of his stunning beauty, after all, and what was he if not beautiful?

No choice. If he was to leave with these two, he had to make up his mind and go now. He sighed sadly under his breath, then gestured for Moana to get on with it.

Moana frowned slightly, somehow pitying the crab, but she turned to the ocean and gave it a nod. With that, the pillar of water swept around them, scooping them up and taking them out of the Realm of Monsters.

Tamatoa felt a bit of panic grip him as the water carried them up, but relaxed immediately when an air bubble formed around the trio to let them breathe during the trip to the surface. Maui watched the decapod out of the corner of his eye as they rose through the ocean. He was used to seeing Tamatoa in a constant state of obnoxiousness and cockiness; it was strange to see him so vulnerable and silent.

The little journey to the surface was awkwardly quiet, but forgivingly short. The sea carried them out of the water and placed them on the still shores of Motunui. Maui brought the crab over to a tall palm tree, laying him down against it before shapeshifting back into his regular form. "See, crab cake?" He said in an almost mocking manner. "Nooothing to worry about."

"Yet." Tamatoa whispered, too quiet for them to hear. He still wasn't convinced that their intentions were "pure". Especially not Maui's; their fallout was too bitter to just brush under the rug like that.

Moana, noticing the tension between them, was quick to interrupt. "We'll have to make some splints for your broken limbs."

Tamatoa narrowed his eyes to slits, shifting his left claw to shield his right side.

Moana bit her tongue. Clearly the crab wasn't going to make it easy to help him. "It will help you heal faster. Don't you want to get better as fast as possible?" She questioned, trying to give him a kind smile. Unfortunately, she only got a low growl in response.

Not overly disheartened, she turned to Maui. "Do you think you could get me one of the older palm trees?" She asked him.

Maui glanced at Tamatoa skeptically before giving her a quick nod. "Alright." With that, he wandered over to some nearby trees, not daring to venture too far from Moana and the Lalotai resident.

Moana sat in the warm sand, watching the crustacean with a look of pity. She still couldn't quite figure out why she felt such a strong desire to help him. Even if he is an insufferable narcissist, she wouldn't wished this kind of suffering on him. Maybe she just wanted to get rid of this irrational feeling of guilt.

"You're going to get yourself killed if you keep this up." Tamatoa growled quietly, almost as if responding to her thoughts.

"… I disagree." She responded calmly. "Either way, I'll take my chances."

Moments later, Maui returned with a decently-sized trunk effortlessly slung over his shoulder. "This should be enough for you, eh, Chosen One?"

Moana got up, running a hand over the bark as she looked it over. "Yes, I can work with this. Thank you."

Using the blade of her javelin, she worked at the tree. She had to estimate on the length of the splints, as she doubted he would take kindly to her attempting to measure his limbs. Maui went over to her side to help her out with the tree, all the the while keeping an eye on Tamatoa.

Tamatoa watched them with a mix of irritation and confusion. Were they just messing with him again? Why go through all the trouble? They couldn't possibly hold sincere concern for him after that mess with the hook.

He hated not being able to tell what their motivations were.

He hated how perplexing they were.

He hated them.


	5. Your Jokes Aren't Funny, Maui

"Done!" Moana stated proudly, looking over the large splints and the vines they had gathered to bind them on. She looked over to Tamatoa, who still didn't seem pleased.

"Well, better get these suckers onto the big sucker, then." Maui smirked, lifting up one of the sturdy splints. Tamatoa shrunk back a tiny bit, a small flicker of uneasiness becoming apparent at the thought of Maui touching his injured side while he's like this.

Moana was trying to be as observant as she could when it came to the crab's behaviour right now, and when she noticed the small movement he made, she suggested instead, "Ah… maybe I should do it."

The demigod gave her a look that seemed to ask if she was sure she knew that that was a good idea, but he knew better than to argue at this point. "A'ight." He said with a casual shrug, passing the first splint off to her.

She stumbled a bit at the weight of the tool, but managed to get a good grip on it, cautiously walking over to Tamatoa. The monster's eyes still watched her with a distrusting glare, keeping his injuries shielded with his good claw. Moana frowned, wondering how she could convince him to move it. She wandered closer, almost close enough to touch him, but when he made a sudden clicking sound with his pincers, and she backed off a bit. Maui narrowed his eyes at this, twitching his hook and causing it to glow blue, clearly meant to give the crab a warning. The sight of the glowing hook alarmed him, knowing that if he continued to be difficult, Maui might intervene. Tamatoa sighed, reluctantly moving his claw so Moana could get to his limbs.

Though Moana was pleased that she could reach him now, she had hoped that this could be done without the use of threats. Wishful thinking, she supposed. Giving the ocean a small gesture, a wave reached over to her and lifted her up so she could properly reach the top of the first injured leg. She gasped under her breath when she got a closer look at the terrible damage. Very lightly, she ran her fingers over the wounds.

Tamatoa watched the human warily, eyes still slightly narrowed. The deliberate gentleness of her touch surprised him; he was sure that she was going to make this purposely painful out of revenge or something, but her gingerly motions seemed to prove that theory wrong.

With the ocean's help, Moana carefully propped the first half of the first splint to the top half of Tamatoa's front leg, being as gentle as she possibly could as she tied it in place. She and Maui had made the splints in fragments, so that Tamatoa's legs could still bend and move as they usually do, just with some extra support. The ocean lowered her to the lower half of his leg and handed her the next splint. Though she continued being as mindful as she could, the crab's breathing suddenly hitched as he slightly jerked his leg away from her when she had started tying on the second support structure. "Sorry…!" Moana apologized quickly when she realized she had hurt him, readjusting the vines to make them as comfortable as she could.

This process continued for a while longer, Moana doing a fairly good job of not accidentally harming him again as she finished up with all three of his legs. Though she had a bit of difficulty properly strapping the last supports on the wounded claw, she managed to finish up before the sun had fully set.

Tamatoa glanced over the job she had done, lightly brushing over one of the splints with his good claw as both Maui and Moana went to the edge of the water to get some more fish.

"You sure are doing a lot for this guy." Maui commented, giving Moana a questioning look. "I get it to an extent, but aren't you going a little above and beyond?"

Moana gave a slight shrug. "I don't know, to be honest. But what's wrong with that if I am?"

Maui snorted. "Well, what's to stop him from trying to kill us again after he gets better? He's not exactly the 'grateful' type." The demigod clearly had little to no faith in the crustacean.

"Well…" Moana replied, not really able to think of a good counterargument. "… I guess that's what you're here for." She answered with a bold grin. "Besides, everyone deserves a second chance. I just want to wait and see if he uses it wisely or not."

"… Well, whatever floats your boat." Maui responded, still doubting her decision, but attempting to lighten the mood with a bit of a pun.

Moana rolled her eyes and snickered at the bad joke before returning to the fishing task at hand.


	6. Bad Timing

The night was quiet, a soft glow of moonlight illuminating the water. Maui and Moana had agreed to take turns keeping watch in case Tamatoa tried anything while they were sleeping. Maui was sleeping soundly after his shift, and Moana lingered near the water's edge, watching the water while casting occasional glances Tamatoa's way.

The crustacean lay quietly, feigning sleep as he eyed Moana from the safety of his shell. Every night since their last encounter in Lalotai he had fantasized about all the ways he wanted to make these two suffer for what they had done. All that humiliation and anger festering over time, forming an unquenchable thirst for revenge, and yet… here they were. They came back to him. Appeared to be "helping" him for reasons still unknown.

Moana glanced over at Tamatoa and Maui, and after assuming the crab was still sleeping, returned her attention to the water.

Tamatoa looked to Maui, who had fallen asleep probably closer than he had intended to the crab.

It would be so easy. All he needed to do was snap the demigod's neck while she wasn't looking; then she would be easy pickings. Yet he hesitated. He wasn't sure why. Maybe he felt unprepared to make such a sudden decision right now, or he feared he might be underestimating the human again… who knows. He'd figure it out eventually.

Tamatoa's eyes scanned Maui's tattoos with intrigue. He hadn't had the chance to view his old friend's skin tapestry for a while. Even though they despised each other nowadays, he still couldn't help but admire the artwork adorning Maui's body. He wondered if there were any new tattoos.

Ever so lightly, he brushed a claw over the demigod's chest, moving his necklace away in a surprisingly gentle manner for such large pincers. He didn't want to wake Maui up, after all, but he seemed to spot an unfamiliar pattern covered by the necklace's teeth that he wanted to get a better look at; upon closer examination, Tamatoa could make out a tattoo of Moana on a sailboat. Odd, he thought to himself. They must have done something extraordinary together if it warranted a new tattoo.

Almost forgetting to glimpse at Moana every once in a while, he looked over to see her staring back at him, seeming to be tense from how close the crustacean was to her friend. She had a tight grip on her javelin, and the ocean looked ready to pounce at the crab in an instant.

 _Good,_ Tamatoa thought to himself. _An expression other than sickening sweetness._ He shifted away from Maui, turning his back to Moana and laying down again to actually sleep.

Revenge wasn't worth the trouble.

For now.


	7. Progress

The first few days were awkward, as expected. Tamatoa was basically unresponsive to Moana whenever she tried to strike up a conversation. She'd warned him about not pushing himself to stand or walk right away, but like a stupid human was going to stop him from trying. Unfortunately, though, she was right; the task was still incredibly difficult, and he almost broke one of the splints when he fell down once.

Oh, how he hated this.

Maui and Moana continued to catch fish for him, Maui giving the crab an occasional tease from time to time. Moana knew that he didn't mean it to be cruel; it probably used to be normal for them to poke fun at each other. After all, she and the demigod did that to each other all the time. But she seemed to think that now wasn't really an appropriate time for that. Especially when Tamatoa's behaving so unlike his regular self.

Moana had the ocean send a note to her people, saying that she would be staying with Maui on Motonui for a while, but conveniently leaving out the detail of caring for a giant crab monster. She had mentioned Tamatoa when telling the story of their adventure to the other voyagers, and she didn't want them to worry.

One day, Moana was watching the crustacean as he shakily combed the beach, picking up any shiny trinkets or sea shells he came across and adding them to his own shell. His walking had gotten a bit better, but he still tired easily and, though he wouldn't admit it, moving around still seemed to be quite painful. An idea came to Moana's mind, but she hesitated at the thought of leaving Maui to watch him. It's not that she didn't trust her friend, but she knew how pigheaded these two could be and didn't want either of them to do anything rash while she was gone. She was the one keeping them in line, after all.

Pulling Maui to the side, she said, "I have to go get something. Can you watch him while I'm gone?"

"Of course." Maui answered with a smug grin.

Moana raised an eyebrow. "No fighting?"

Maui laughed at that suggestion. "Well yeah, it's not like he could put up much of a fight if he tried anything, anyway."

Moana looked unimpressed, folding her arms. "Even if he does 'try anything', I expect not to come back to an even more injured crab." She retorted.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it." He assured her. "I'll leave the big fella alone."

Giving him a thankful smile, she darted off to a different area of the island. She stopped by the village to pick up a carrying pole with large baskets on each end, then continued on her way.

Maui and Tamatoa were silent for the hours that followed. Maui watched him from the branch of a nearby tree with a look of suspicion and contempt. Tamatoa, when he wasn't sorting through his new little pile of sparkly things, would glance up at the demigod with a similar expression. Finally, he had said, "I'm surprised you haven't gone off to look for Moana yet. You seem to hover around her like an overprotective puppy nowadays…" He knew it was a bad idea to try and get under the deity's skin right now, but something seemed to push him to do so anyways. "It astounds me that you've lasted so long without running off to check on her." He queried, glancing up at the man to see what kind of reaction he'd get.

Maui looked annoyed at first, but then he smirked. "Nah. Unlike you, she doesn't need a babysitter." He replied coolly.

Tamatoa looked down again, going back to his treasures. _Well, you walked right into that one…_ He said to himself.

"So," Maui started, jumping down from the tree to get a better look at the crustacean, "you finally decide to talk and that's all you have to say?"

Tamatoa rolled his eyes, immediately regretting his decision to speak. He poked at some shells with his claw, hoping Maui would shut up again if he ignored him. The demigod leaned on his hook casually, keeping his eyes on the crustacean. "You're weirding me out, crab cake. Never seen you go this long without bragging about yourself before."

"There's not much to brag about right now." The crab whispered as he crushed one of the shells beneath his pincers, not loud enough for Maui to hear.

"What?" Maui asked, eyebrow raised.

Tamatoa looked at the deity again, eyes narrowed coldly. "I said I could say the same about you." He lied, not wanting Maui to catch on to his moment of self-doubt.

"Heh. Fair enough." He chuckled in response.

Much to Tamatoa's relief, he was quiet again after that.

Some more time passed, and Moana returned with her carrying pole.

Tamatoa gave her nothing more than a disinterested glance before going back to fiddling with his things. Maui walked over to Moana, asking "So what have you been doing all this time?"

Moana simply grinned at him and gestured to the containments of the baskets.

A look of surprise and impressment appeared on Maui's face as he saw what she was carrying. "You carried all that down here? You continue to surprise me."

Somewhat curious now, Tamatoa glimpsed over at them, head tilted slightly.

Moana wandered over to the crab, dumping the contents of the baskets out in front of him. Tamatoa's eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful treasures that fell out from within them. "Thought you'd appreciate a little more than just the odd piece of jewelry lost in the sand," she beamed with a wink.

Tamatoa slowly went through the lovely items, a very slight smile growing on his face. "Where did you get these…?" He asked quietly, voice filled with more delight than he intended to express.

Moana smiled in return, relieved that he liked the gift. It confused and amazed her that something so simple as any shiny object could bring such pure joy to the weird monster. "Well, there's this cavern where some huge old canoes are kept, and my people and I left the ones that were too worn out to sail down there. I thought that there might be some old valuables in them, and it looks like I was right."

Tamatoa stared at Moana for a moment, bewildered that she would go through so much effort just to bring these to him. And on a whim, nonetheless. He almost wanted to thank her for a second, but quickly shook that thought out of his head. How many times must he remind himself that the reason he lost so much of his own treasure in the first place was their fault? Not to mention the weeks spent on his back? He shifted his expression to that of a monotone look. "Hm. I see." Was all he bothered to say as he carefully placed the new trinkets on his back.

Maui and Moana exchanged amused glances, seeing through the crab's attempt to conceal his appreciation.


	8. Sleepless Chat

The sky was shadowed, lit only by the glowing moon and the dazzling stars that decorated the night. Maui, again, had already taken to a deep slumber as Moana sat on a grassy ledge, staring across the vivid sea.

Tamatoa laid in his usual spot by the large palm tree, but couldn't seem to fall asleep. His mind was racing with conflicted thoughts, and he just couldn't figure out why. He raised his head to glance over at Moana. She had reached a hand out over the water, and a small wave suddenly rose up to greet it. The crustacean tilted his head curiously in response to this.

Moana caressed the water, the feel of it somehow relaxing to her. She jumped and let out a surprised gasp when the crab monster suddenly laid himself down beside her, but relaxed after the feeling of surprise passed. For a creature so large, he could move with impressive stealth, even despite the injured legs. She wasn't sure whether to find that fact interesting or terrifying.

"Can't sleep…?" She inquired.

"Can't sleep." He repeated. "What are you doing?"

Moana raised her eyebrows, surprised that he was actually initiating a conversation. "Oh, just… um. Letting the ocean keep me company." She answered.

"Why does it do that…?" He asked, puzzled at the water's reactions to Moana. "I wouldn't have thought that a being like the sea would become so fond of a mere human…"

"The ocean is a friend of mine." Moana responded with a smile, the water wavering slightly as she drew her hand away. "We've been through a lot together."

Tamatoa gave her a strange look before glancing back at the water. The two remained silent for a little while longer before Moana piped up again.

"I liked it, by the way." When the decapod looked at her with confusion, she clarified, "The song. You had asked if I liked the song. You actually have a nice voice. For a crab." She winked and laughed a little to make sure he knew she was just joshing him with that last part, then went on, "I would've appreciated it more if I hadn't been fearing for my life."

Tamatoa blinked, certainly not expecting her to bring that up out of the blue. "Oh. Thank you." Oh crap, he didn't mean to say that. Did he have to compliment her back now? Is that how it works? "You were a lot smarter than I gave you credit for back then." Ew. Trying to compliment people out loud felt weird. He's officially forgotten how to interact with people.

Moana laughed under her breath once more, almost as shocked as he was to hear him praise her. "Thank you." She replied, turning to the sea again. Once more they were quiet, but Moana's smile seemed to turn into a frown after a moment.

"… Why do you feel like you need to try to be beautiful all the time?" She asked suddenly.

Tamatoa scoffed, almost as if he was shocked that she would say such a stupid thing. "Babe, I AM beautiful all the time." He retorted, a sly smile appearing on his face for a second.

Moana chuckled a bit; she had wondered when she was going to see one of his normal, smug smiles again. On one hand she thought it was a good sign, but on the other, it unnerved her, bringing back memories of their fight with the crustacean a while back.

"Okay, fair," She snickered, subtly rolling her eyes. "but don't you know that there's more to a person than their appearance?"

The crab paused, thinking it over for a moment. Of course he knew that. But what good is "inner beauty"? It gets you nothing in the long run, especially in a place like Lalotai; there's no reason to pursue such a pointless trait. "… You're naïve if you think I should care about anything else but survival and appearance, babe." He answered finally.

Moana's full attention was on the crustacean right now, looking him over with a skeptical gaze. "Y'know, I've noticed that the people most concerned about how they look are often the ones most insecure about themselves."

Tamatoa's expression went blank as he looked at her. " _What?_ " He hissed, caught off guard by the accusation.

Moana shrugged casually, turning to the water again. "Just saying."

Another stretch of silence. The crustacean was convinced that she was talking nonsense. Moana, however, knew better.

"… I'd better get Maui up so I can get some rest." She figured, giving the crab one last glance. "You want to go back to pretending to sleep or something before I do so?"

Tamatoa sighed, nodding his head slightly as he got up to return to his spot. Moana headed over towards Maui, waiting for the crab to lay down before she did anything.

"… Tamatoa?" She called.

He opened one eye to look at her in response.

"I'll get you some more treasure soon, okay?" She said. Though she didn't agree with his views on beauty, she knew that the valuables made him happy, and she still felt guilty about how he had lost so much of his own because of her.

The crab blinked, still not used to being treated so kindly.

"… Thank you." He replied quietly.


	9. Tfw Your Friends Are Getting Too edgy

The morning was warm, yet coupled with a pleasantly cool breeze wafting across the beach from the ocean.

Moana had already gone off to get Tamatoa some more treasures before he woke up, leaving him alone with Maui again. The crustacean took to combing the beach for trinkets, as usual, and Maui watched from afar.

"… So." Maui began to say.

Ugh. Tamatoa hated it when Maui opened his stupid face hole.

"Moana was pretty excited that you actually talked with her last night." The demigod continued.

The crab froze, screaming internally at the realization that Moana had told him about that conversation.

"Don't worry, she didn't give me any details." Maui reassured him, almost as if he could tell what was going through the crab's head. "She said she just wanted me to know that she doesn't think you're as bad as we thought you were."

Tamatoa turned to look at him, eyes narrowed to slits. " _What is your_ _point?_ " He spat.

Maui took a step forward, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "Look. I know we've, uh, had our differences—"

 _"_ _Ha!_ _"_ Tamatoa scoffed bitterly. "Now _that's_ an understatement!"

" _My point is…_ " Maui continued, "… I'm willing to put all that behind us if you are. For Moana's sake, and to make this whole thing a little less… well. Awkward."

The crustacean was speechless for a moment, his fear of Maui disappearing for just an instant to be replaced with pure anger. "Are you serious, man?! Easy for you to say while all of your appendages are still intact!" He snarled, gesturing to the leg Maui had ripped off so long ago.

"I didn't _want_ things to end like that." Maui countered, trying to keep his cool.

Tamatoa stepped towards him, snapping his pincers together in irritation. "Then why would you-?!" He cut himself off, a twinge of fear returning when he saw the look of annoyance on Maui's face. Looking away, he stepped back again. "It's not exactly an easy thing to just _get over_." He growled, voice lowered, but stern.

"I wasn't the only one in the wrong, you know." Maui responded flatly.

Another shot of anger went through Tamatoa, but he bit back the urge to reply, the thought of Maui's anger growing being very unsettling for him.

After a moment, Maui sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be a simple conversation. "Tamatoa, the past is the past. We can't change it. If you're not going to forget about it, fine, but I'm not letting it bring me down while we're all stuck together."

The decapod clicked his claws again, clearly frustrated. Of course this was so easy for him. He's the wonderful, selfless Maui who can never be faulted for anything. All Tamatoa was was a greedy, good-for-nothing bottom feeder from the cursed Realm Of Monsters. But, as usual, he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. "… I make no promises." He grumbled finally. "But I won't be going out of my way to bring it up, that's for sure…"

"Good man." Maui concluded, satisfied. Somehow his tone was even more aggravating than usual right now, but maybe that was just Tamatoa's imagination.

"Umm… Am I interrupting, or…?" Came Moana's voice from the edge of the beach, giving them a curious look as she carried her findings over.

"Not at all." The crustacean answered quickly. He never thought he'd be so relieved to see her face again.

Moana raised an eyebrow, confused, but chose not to pry. "Well, okay then." She said, pouring the treasures out of the baskets for the monster, his mood immediately improving as he limped over to look at them.

Moana flashed him a smile, leaving him to his new possessions as she went to Maui's side. Still watching the crustacean, she whispered, "What were you two talking about?"

"Oh… Nothing important. Don't worry about it." Maui replied with a casual twirl of his hook.


	10. Bad Attempt At Fluff

The remainder of that day was spent with an air of awkward tension, yet neither the decapod nor the demigod would admit to anything being wrong. Moana eventually stopped asking, as to not pester either of them too much, but she definitely felt that something needed to be done about their friction with each other…

The day that followed was, unsurprisingly, a beautiful one. They had spent the morning seeing how far up the island Tamatoa could get before becoming too tired or sore; they had made it about halfway through the old village before turning back, and so the crab had laid in the sand under the shade of his tree to rest while Moana and Maui hung out by the water.

Though Moana had originally been trying to practice techniques with her javelin, she and Maui had began splashing water at each other after Maui had jokingly pushed her into the sea, laughing like idiots all the while.

After a second of catching her breath from laughing too much, she looked over to Tamatoa's unaware body and then cast a mischievous smirk Maui's way.

"Oh geez, Moana don't—" Maui called between chuckles, but she had already sent a stream of water shooting over the beach, playfully splashing the giant crab.

The crustacean jumped in shock, then glared at the pair with the most unamused expression he could muster.

Maui did his best to suppress a chortle, and Moana covered her mouth to hide her wide grin.

The crab rose to his feet and started to limp over to the water's edge where they were wading. Maui gripped his hook a bit tighter beneath the water, unsure of what the crab's intentions were.

Tamatoa's expression suddenly shifted to that of a sly smirk as he raised his claw up above the ocean next to them. "Oh no-!" Moana started to laugh when she realized what he was doing, only to be cut off by him forcefully slamming the claw into the water, drenching them with the huge splash that came out of it.

"You jerk!" Moana giggled, spraying some water back at the crab in retaliation.

"Don't dish it out if you can't take it, babe." He grinned, winking.

"Oh, I couldn't agree more." Maui snickered, suddenly shapeshifting into a hawk and flying up in the air.

Tamatoa tensed, scuttling back a few steps out of alarm, but he suddenly felt confused when he heard Moana start to laugh, "Ooooh no no no, don't you _dare!"_

With a smug smile, Maui shifted his form to that of a large whale, crashing down into the water and flooding both of them with a massive wave.

Oh. That's what he meant.

The crab spat out some of the excess water, raising an eyebrow at the shapeshifter, who simply turned back into his human form and gave him a shrug and a wink in return.

Moana smiled as she looked between the two of them. Clearly there was still a degree of tension between them, but it was nice to see them at least trying to ignore that.

The trio had gathered around a small campfire for the night, Moana roasting a small fish over the flames as Maui teased her about not being able to eat it raw.

"Some people actually _like_ their food to be cooked." Moana joshed, sticking her tongue out at him.

Tamatoa simply listened as the two of them conversed, eyes seeming fixated on Maui for some reason. When the demigod finally noticed this, he returned the creature's gaze with a questioning look.

"… What's that one for?" The crab finally asked, gesturing to the tattoo of Moana.

Maui raised his eyebrows in surprise. He remembered how Tamatoa used to always ask him about new tattoos when they were still on good terms, but he never really expected he would hear those words from him again.

After shaking off the oddly nostalgic feeling, he glanced at the tattoo Tamatoa was referring to. "Oh, that? That was for Moana and I restoring the Heart of Te Fiti!" He declared proudly.

"Why would you do that?" The crustacean questioned, shocked that he would do such a thing. "Weren't you the one that stole it in the first place?"

Moana and Maui looked at each other with amusement. "I guess news doesn't travel fast around Lalotai." Moana grinned. "You want to hear the whole story?"

The rest of the night was spent reminiscing about their journey, Moana and Maui laughing all the while as they filled the crab in.

For once, quite miraculously, they all seemed to be at ease.


	11. Oops You Can't Know I Have A Personality

The next string of days thankfully brought a pleasant atmosphere with them. Not only was Tamatoa actually starting to warm up to Moana, but Maui and Tamatoa were also able to continue getting along better than expected.

Once more, they had decided to test how far Tamatoa could walk, as he was still slowly but surely recovering from his injuries. As they were travelling up the island, Moana filled the silence with small talk, asking Tamatoa about Lalotai at one point.

"Babe, _**I**_ was the most interesting thing down there." The crab chirped. "With me gone, there's not much else to talk about."

"Okay," Moana snickered, thinking she should have expected an answer like that. "So which do you like better, then? Lalotai or the surface?"

Tamatoa went quiet, never really thinking to consider that. He had only been to the surface one time before this, and there wasn't exactly a lot of sightseeing that time… but he had to admit, the surface was indeed beautiful. He loved how the sun made his treasures sparkle, and how his bioluminescence took on a full glow on moonless nights. Could that really compare to the comfort of his own home, though? He wasn't sure. This was a nice change of pace, to say the least, and like he said, Lalotai was boring aside from himself. And, oddly enough, he seemed to enjoy having company for once. But he was certain he'd never admit that to the pair.

Huh. He wasn't sure how to answer. _Did_ he like the surface better?

"Whatsamatter, crab cake?" Maui piped up when Tamatoa didn't reply. He swung his hook, shapeshifting into a large, brown cat and continued with a chuckle, "Cat got your tongue?"

Tamatoa's movements became noticeably more rigid when the demigod changed form, but he covered it up by rolling his eyes and commenting sarcastically, "Har de har, not only are you a demigod of the wind and sea, but a demigod of awful puns as well." To which Maui replied, "You know it." And laughed.

Moana's brows furrowed slightly as she noticed the crustacean's sudden stiffness of gait. Every time Maui changed form, Tamatoa seemed to react physically. Every time. Their fight must have been brutal to have made the crab so terrified of Maui, but she supposed that the broken-off leg was proof enough of that.

She would have to ask them about it sooner or later. They clearly had to face this elephant in the room.

 _Tonight,_ she convinced herself. _I'll bring it up tonight._

As they were heading back, Moana asked Maui to gather some firewood for the night and to meet them back at the beach. Tamatoa and Moana had beaten him there, and were waiting by the edge of the sea as Moana liked to do.

Moana turned to the crab, smirking playfully as she ran a hand through the water. "Rematch?" She asked, flicking up a small spurt of water into his face.

Tamatoa gave her a devious grin in return. "You sure 'bout that, babe? You're at a bit of a disadvantage, here." He chuckled, moving his claw over the water as a threat to drench her again.

"Oh, am I now?" She challenged as she moved into a battle-ready stance in the water, small waves twirling around her feet.

The crustacean rolled his eyes in good humour, but accepted her challenge by making a big splash with his claw.

Moana shielded her face with her arm, then gestured to the ocean. Almost in the blink of an eye, the water shot out and dragged Tamatoa into the sea with her, completely soaking him, but Moana stopped laughing when she saw his reaction.

Unless she was hearing things, she could have sworn that the crustacean let out a frightened yelp as he scrambled backwards out of the water, almost causing himself to fall over in his panic to get back ashore.

Moana stared disbelievingly at the crab, who in turn froze up after realizing what he just did. "I… Er…" He began, but trailed off when he couldn't think of a good cover-up.

"… I-I'm sorry." She apologized, not intending to scare the creature like that. She still couldn't quite wrap her head around what just happened; he couldn't be scared of the ocean, could he? That didn't make any sense whatsoever to her. Only one way to find out for sure.

Moana hesitantly left the water, sitting herself down in the sand next to where the crab had huddled. Tamatoa was still unsure on how he should try to brush this off. Kind of dug himself into a hole with that reaction.

"… Are you… afraid of the water…?" She asked quietly, the concept of any kind of crab fearing water being odd to her.

"I am _not_ afraid of the water," He quickly responded, eyes narrowed slightly. When he saw her unconvinced expression, he knew he had to confess. "… I'm afraid of _drowning._ " He admitted quietly, putting an emphasis on the differentiation. "There's a difference."

Moana bit her tongue, looking away. When she thought it over again, she realized that it wasn't actually as surprising as she might have initially thought. He's never had any reason to go into the water, since his food literally dropped down to him in Lalotai, and it would explain why he seemed particularly uneasy when they all had to use the sea to get to the surface. Even during their water fight the other day, the crustacean had never actually set foot in the ocean.

"… Please don't tell Maui." He sighed. "He'd never let me live it down…"

Moana didn't think that was entirely true; sure, he liked to tease sometimes, but he wasn't an awful person. He would stop if he knew he was going too far. But regardless, she nodded her head. This was clearly embarrassing for him. She considered trying to assure him that there was nothing to be ashamed of, that everybody has fears, but decided it would be better to just drop the subject for now. She could tell he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

There really was a lot more to Tamatoa than she had thought when they first met.

They remained silent until Maui returned, and Moana went to work building the fire. Maybe this wasn't the best time to ask about their past…

No. She couldn't keep putting it off. They're both carrying weight on their shoulders because of whatever happened between them, and it's about time that weight was lifted.


	12. hello darkness my old friend

The three were settled around the fire after a quick dinner, unspeaking.

Moana looked from Maui to Tamatoa, her gaze stopping at his half-leg. _Well…_ She thought, _Now or never…_

"What happened between you two?" She asked out of the blue, catching the attention of both of them.

Maui and Tamatoa were both caught off guard by the question, exchanging alarmed glances. Tamatoa was quick to look away, not daring to speak on the matter in front of Maui.

"Uh, look, crab cake and I have agreed to put that behind us, so let's just not bring it up, okay?" Maui replied, trying to get her to drop the subject.

"No, not okay!" She protested, gesturing to the crab. "You ripped off his leg and I don't know why! And whatever happened between you is obviously causing tension! You two can't get over your problems if you don't face them, and I am NOT going to let this go until you do!"

Tamatoa watched Moana with a wide-eyed stare, not expecting such intense assertiveness from her all of a sudden. Even Maui seemed a little surprised; Moana had usually approached topics like these more sensitively, but she knew she had to be stern right now if she wanted to get her point across to these two bullheaded dolts.

"… Look. I know that I don't know anything about your guys' history, and maybe I'm crossing a line by prying, but…" She sighed, calming her voice but still keeping an air of firmness in it, "… you need to face this, and I want to help. Maui, you're one of my closest friends, and…" She looked over to the crustacean, "… maybe you don't feel the same way, but I think of you as my friend now too, Tamatoa." This seemed to strike a chord in Tamatoa, but he remained silent as Moana continued, "Friends are supposed to help each other. Please, Maui, Tamatoa, let me at least **try** to help you."

Again, Maui and Tamatoa looked at each other, conflicted. The demigod knew well how persistent Moana could be; something had to be said. But he worried that talking about it might start up the fight again, and he could tell Tamatoa was worried about the same thing.

Moana bit her tongue, seeming to realize their concerns. Was she confident enough in how they've evolved as people to trust that they wouldn't resort to violence?

… She had to be. They're her friends. _They_ were friends. Surely, after all this time and improvement in attitude, they could be friends again.

"So… what happened?" Moana urged, voice basically at a whisper now.

The following silence was almost painful.

After what seemed like an eternity, the demigod took a deep breath, and finally spoke. "I was… coming down to Lalotai to visit Tamatoa. When I got to his lair, there were… humans. Three dead, two still alive that he was about to end."

"They attacked _first."_ Tamatoa growled quietly.

"How am I supposed to believe that?! A group of powerless humans attacking a giant monster crab?!" Maui spat back.

Narrowing his eyes, Tamatoa glared at the shapeshifter. "They had _weapons,_ Maui! You _saw_ that! You just can't face the fact that your precious little human subjects could ever do any wrong!"

Oh dear. This wasn't going well. Moana remained where she was, but gripped her javelin tightly, ready to get between the two if things got out of hand.

Maui had stood up now, eyeing the crab angrily. "The two people I did manage to save told me what happened! _You_ attacked _them!"_

Tamatoa finally snapped, standing up as he angrily clicked his claws. "Of course, because humans aren't capable of lying, either! No, I MUST be the one who started it! I'm from the Realm Of Monsters, after all; we monsters are all the same, aren't we?! I'm no different from _them,_ right?! I'm a greedy bastard with no feelings that only cares about myself! _That's what you told me, isn't it?!"_ Venom dripped from the words he spoke, walking towards Maui as all his built-up rage and emotional torment from over the years finally came pouring out. "You think I didn't _care,_ Maui?! Did you think I didn't _learn_ anything from you, that I didn't love it when you came down to see me because I thought I was _actually_ worth your time, that you didn't inspire me to try to be better, that I hadn't actually thought I could _finally_ be close to somebody despite having lived my life in that godforsaken realm where the only thing you're supposed to feel for others is _**hate?!**_ _"_ At this point the crustacean was mere steps away from the demigod. "Well, you're wrong, Maui! I _cared!_ Maybe I didn't know how to show it in a way you'd understand - **I** didn't even understand it - but I _cared_ _!_ But you always put the humans first, and did I ever complain?! You dedicated your life to an entire race that didn't even _appreciate_ you! They left you on an island to rot, just like your parents left you to drown in the sea!" Standing directly in front of the shapeshifter, he continued, "I _hated_ seeing you so pained, but no matter how hard I tried, nothing I ever did or said could make you feel better! Only the humans could do that, couldn't they?! You trusted complete strangers instead of me because _I was never_ _ **good enough**_ _ **for you!**_ _"_

Silence.

Moana and Maui both stared wide-eyed, speechless.

The decapod regretted his words the moment they left his mouth. Seeing the demigod's speechless, vexed face made him take a step back. Tamatoa realized the weight and ferocity of his rant all at once, and one instinct came to his mind as he started to remember his crippling fear of the one he had just yelled at: Run.

Before anyone could say anything, the crab bolted away from the pair, ignoring the ache of his injuries as he disappeared into the trees.

Moana's breathing was shaky, and she cast a worried look at Maui.

Maui took in a deep breath, trying not to let all the emotions stirring up overwhelm him. He never in all his life expected that sort of outburst from Tamatoa. He had never realized just how much emotional turmoil the crab was experiencing from all this before now. He… genuinely thought the monster didn't care, at least not _that_ much…

"I… I'll go talk to him…" Moana said quietly, hesitantly getting to her feet.

"No." Maui sighed, anchoring his hook in the sand. "I should do it."

Moana frowned, unsure of whether or not that would be a good idea or a bad one. "A-Are you sure?"

Maui nodded slowly. "… You were right. We need to sort this out." Leaving his hook behind, the demigod quickly went after the crab.

Moana glanced at the hook, then to where Maui walked off. Sighing under her breath, she picked up her javelin and followed after them.


	13. i've come to talk with you again

Tamatoa had stopped by a grassy hill in the old village, unable to run anymore due to the pain of his wounds catching up to him from the sudden force he had put on them. He had his head buried behind his claws, cursing himself for the things he said. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! If he didn't kill you before, he sure is going to now!_ Growling in irritation with himself, he almost didn't notice the demigod walking towards him. His eyes perked up from behind the claws, seeing Maui approaching, and let out a startled gasp as he stumbled backwards. He held his claw back up as a makeshift shield as he shakily spoke, "P-Please, Maui, I didn't mean to—"

"Cool it, crab cake." Maui cut him off, holding up his hands to show that he didn't bring the hook.

The crab stopped backing away, but remained very tense. This was an extremely uncomfortable situation.

Moana lingered by some neighbouring trees, far enough not to be noticed, but close enough to be able to hear and observe.

Maui attempted moving a bit closer to the crustacean, but got the hint when he just moved backwards in response and simply sat down a fair distance away from him. He had put one hand on his crossed legs and the other holding up his chin as he watched Tamatoa with a contemplative, conflicted expression. After a long stretch of silence, the deity drew in a slow breath, and spoke.

"… There were times when I wondered if… if I had been wrong that day. If you had been telling the truth all along." Maui started. He felt a pang of guilt looking at the crab now and thinking back on everything that happened. "I… convinced myself that you had to be the one in the wrong, so that I didn't have to face the possibility of being lied to by the humans I've done so much for…"

Tamatoa blinked, lowering his claw slightly as he listened to the man's words.

"… Killing those people was wrong. You could have avoided that." Maui said firmly, his stance on that definitely being unchanged. "But… you're right. I let my loyalty to the humans get in the way of my better judgment. I wanted to save those survivors, but I shouldn't have…" He shot a glance at the crab's ripped-off leg, wincing slightly. "… I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I admit that." He made eye contact with the crustacean once more. "But I need to know. I just… Tell me they attacked first. Tell me you're not lying."

Tamatoa watched his old friend, looking hurt somehow. "Maui," he said quietly, "I've said and done some awful things. But in all our years of knowing each other, have I _ever_ lied to you?"

Maui bit his lip. Never. Tamatoa's never had any _reason_ to lie to him. But wasn't this situation different? He could have been lying to try and save his own skin; Tamatoa knew how much he valued human life, after all.

… But that's just it. Tamatoa _knows_ how much he values human life. Why would he go out of his way to hurt them if it wasn't for a good reason? They _did_ have weapons. They _did_ seem prepared to battle. What were the chances that they just "accidentally" stumbled across Lalotai completely combat-ready?

Maui sighed, putting his head in his hands as he processed all this, the lingering feeling of guilt building up. The crab frowned slightly, not sure what to do or say. He could tell the demigod was feeling remorseful, but Tamatoa was still terrible at socializing properly, and comfort _definitely_ wasn't one of his strong suits.

"I'm so sorry, Tamatoa." Maui whispered. "All this time I just thought you were no better than those other monsters, I didn't… I just…" Another irritated sigh. Everything was so messed up.

Tamatoa looked awkwardly from side to side as he tried to figure out what to do, then scooted a bit closer to the deity. "I, um… can see why you would think that…" he responded. "Like I said, I didn't really know how express friendship like a human would. Not to mention I am pretty selfish. It makes sense that you would brush me off as just another monster."

Weird. A second ago he was yelling at the guy for what he did, but now here he was, trying to justify his actions somehow. _The water pressure change from coming up here must have fucked up my head,_ the crab concluded.

"But you _weren't_ like the other monsters." Maui argued. "You at least _tried_ to improve. I didn't _appreciate_ that."

"… Hm." Tamatoa looked away, again unsure of how to respond. This was indeed a complicated situation, but… strangely enough, he felt like they could get through it. That damned human girl might be on to something with this "talking problems out" thing.

"… Well…" The crustacean continued, "Should we just… try again…?"

Maui glanced at the crab, shocked to hear him suggest such a thing.

Tamatoa shrugged, closing his eyes. "I just… feel as though we've both gotten a fair amount of closure out of this regarding that day." Even he couldn't believe he was talking like this. He's been hanging around Moana too much, that's for sure. "… If you were willing to, I just… think it would be nice." The last part of that sentence was said very quietly. As much as he hated to admit it, Tamatoa had… actually _missed_ being friends with Maui. The thought of getting that chance again was… while on one hand a scary thought, also somehow pleasing to him.

Maui was silent for a minute, but then gave the crab a small smile. "I… I'd like that."

Tamatoa returned the smile, a wave of relief washing over him.

They both jumped when Moana's voice suddenly came from behind them. "I knew there was more to you than just a pretty shell." She said with a knowing grin. "I'd say you're packing a little more inner beauty than you thought, Tama."

Tama **toa.** " He corrected. He then huffed and snapped his head to the side. "And I don't know what you're talking about."

This earned a quick laugh from both her and Maui, yet much to his surprise, he didn't seem to mind.

The trio returned to the beach, relaxing in the sand as they watched the stars. None of them seemed set on turning in for the night yet.

"How did you guys become friends?" Moana queried all of a sudden. "Is it okay for me to ask about your guys' story now that we've gotten the hard part out of the way, or…?"

Maui and Tamatoa exchanged glances, neither of them seeming to object to it.

"The whole story?" Maui asked, eyebrow raised.

"Oh, definitely." Moana grinned in return.

"Well, okay… Where to begin…"


	14. Flashback Time! (Part 1)

Maui, shapeshifter, demigod of the wind and sea, hero to all. The one who pulled up the sky, harnessed the breeze, stole fire from down below, lived for the humans, doing everything he could to earn their love.

This was centuries before the fiasco with the Heart of Te Fiti; he hadn't even considered stealing it for the mortals at this point. There was still many other things he could do for the humans first.

Naturally, when it had come to his attention that a surge of monsters had suddenly been getting from Lalotai to the surface somehow, he felt it was his duty to figure out why and put a stop to it. But even he had to rest sometimes. Couldn't do his work if he was overtired, after all. On his way to the entrance of Lalotai, he had stopped at an island on the way to catch up on some sleep.

As he was starting a fire for the night, he noticed a pair of eyes watching him from behind some bushes; a coconut crab, he realized after looking at the animal for a while. Not a very big one, either. Maybe about two feet long.

"What are you looking at, ugly?" He asked. Rhetorically, of course – crabs don't talk, after all – as he looked back at his fire.

"You're not much to look at yourself, fatso." Came the crab's comeback, a mischievous glint flickering in its narrowed eyes.

Shocked, Maui quickly looked back at the creature with a baffled expression.

… Did he just get sassed by a backtalking crab child?


	15. Flashback Time! (Part 2)

"You're a monster from Lalotai." He realized with a snarl, grabbing his fish hook.

"What's it to ya, mughead?" The creature snickered. The crab had heard about humans before, but this was his first time seeing one up-close; he knew that mortals were just meatsacks with no extraordinary powers, so he wasn't hesitant to get a little cheeky with this one.

But the crab stopped laughing immediately at the flash of blue that came next, and let out an alarmed squeak as the demigod pinned him down in the form of a hawk.

Oh shit. This wasn't a mortal.

The crab squeezed his eyes shut and tried to shield his face with his claws, expecting to get torn apart by his attacker. Instead, Maui shapeshifted back into his humanesque form, picking the crab up by one of his legs. "Not much of a monster yet, are you?" He noted aloud as he looked over the tiny crab.

"H-Hey…!" The creature protested, flailing helplessly in the air. "I-If you're going to kill me, just get it over with already…!"

"Oh no, I'm not going to kill you." Maui said with a smirk. "You're going to tell me how and where you and all those other monsters got up here, you little pest."

With a snap of his claws, he growled in response, "I don't know! All these dumb islands look the same to me! I can't remember which one I landed on! I'll ch-chop your fingers off if you don't put me down, you—you- not-human thing…!"

"Demigod," Maui corrected, tossing the decapod up into the air and catching him by a different leg. "and you _really_ don't want to do that, crab."

The crustacean, dizzied by the toss, shook his head and tried to focus his eyes on Maui again.

"So." Maui continued, dangling the crab carelessly. "You say you can't remember where you arrived at from the surface. Would you be able to remember where in Lalotai you got up here?"

"So what if I could?!" The crab spat irritatedly. "I wouldn't help you for anything in the world!"

"Oh, really?" The deity questioned, dropping the crab on his back. Before the crustacean could try and get back to his feet, Maui pressed the edge of his hook on the thing's chest. "Not even your life? Can't leave you around here to grow up and start terrorizing people, after all."

The crab let out a sharp yelp, the sudden pressure on his chest startling and paining him. "Okay, okay…!" He begged, "I-I'll show you where to go in Lalotai…!"

With a smirk, Maui said smugly, "Good choice." before picking up the creature again.

" _Now_ what are you doing?!" The crab growled, annoyed at being thrown around so much.

Maui brought him over to his sailboat, opening a hatch in the hull and sticking the crab in. "Can't have you running off while I sleep." Maui explained. "Rest up, crab cake. We leave in the morning."

"It's _Tamatoa!"_ The creature snarled, clicking his claws together again. "Not 'crab cake'!"

Maui gave him a disinterested shrug. "Whatever, crab cake. We leave in the morning, so rest up while you can."

With that, he closed the hatch to make sure Tamatoa couldn't crawl out, then went back to his fire.


	16. Flashback Time! (Part 3)

Maui awoke that morning to the sound of a deafening crunch.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Maui shouted, seeing Tamatoa snapping apart the door of his hatch; the creature had surprisingly powerful claws, even for a coconut crab, as it only took him a single snap to get through one log.

Tamatoa blinked in confusion, then growled when the demigod yanked him up by his antennae. "Hey, I was just trying to see what _that_ was!" The crab protested, pointing at the sun. "I couldn't see it through that dumb door!"

Maui looked at the monster in disbelief and irritation. "The _Sun?!"_

"Oh, is that what it's called?" Tamatoa asked, squinting at the giant light in the sky. "It's so bright."

Dumb kid. Tore a hole in his boat for _that?_ Jeez…

… Come to think of it, _was_ he even a kid? Maui couldn't tell for sure.

"Whatever," Maui grumbled, pushing his boat into the sea with his free hand and jumping onto it, still holding the crab.

Tamatoa took in a sharp breath, startled at suddenly being on the sea. "What'd you do that for?" He asked nervously.

"Uh… So we can get to Lalotai, duh." Maui replied starkly. "Luckily the hole you made won't affect how well we float, but if you break anything else, I'm kicking you overboard."

With that, the crab squatted in the center of the boat, unmoving. He didn't dare risk getting chucked into the ocean.

The trip was quiet at first; Tamatoa watched Maui as he worked the sails, paying particular attention to the tattoos adorning his body. He couldn't figure out what the point of the intricate designs was; they didn't appear to serve any purpose, but he had to admit that they were nice to look at. He wondered if they had a purpose similar to his bioluminescent designs, but he figured that couldn't be it. After all, human skin doesn't normally have designs like that, does it?

"What are you looking at?" Maui's voice snapped Tamatoa out of his thoughts. The crab tilted his head slightly, then pointed at Maui with his claw. "What are those pictures all over your bod?" He asked.

Maui glanced at himself, then back to Tamatoa, his expression shifting to a proud one. "This, my friend, is a tapestry of my victories."

" _ **Do not**_ call me a friend." The crab snapped. "That's a dumb human sentiment." He then tilted his head. "What do you mean, 'tapestry of your victories'?"

"I'm a demigod, kid. I do incredible things, and when I do, these appear." Maui explained, gesturing to his tattoos.

"Why?" The crab asked, frowning in confusion.

The shapeshifter simply shrugged. "They just do. As reminders, I guess. But hey, who doesn't like having a little extra flair to their appearance?" He said with a confident grin. "I'm pretty much a walking work of art at this point. People love it."

Tamatoa blinked, taking a moment to take in the strange man's words. He had never really considered beauty to be all that useful before, though he admittedly _had_ been referred to as ugly by other monsters many times in his life. And he had to admit that the decorations really did make Maui more interesting to look at.

As he looked Maui up and down, Tamatoa suddenly narrowed his eyes. "… Why do you look so human-like?"

Maui narrowed his eyes in return, that question seeming to strike a nerve. "Y'know, you sure do talk a lot for a monster. You chatter this much to your buddies in Lalotai, too?"

The crustacean laughed in response. "You must REALLY be an idiot if you think anyone in Lalotai are 'buddies'!" With an amused smirk, Tamatoa tilted his head again. "I can't help asking a few questions. I've never met a human before—sorry, demigod. Besides, if I'm gonna be stuck with you, I might as well try to satisfy my curiosity."

The demigod rolled his eyes, still not intending to answer his question anytime soon. "Well, you won't be stuck with me much longer." He said instead, pointing at a tall stone structure that towered over the island they were approaching. "We're here."

Tamatoa looked up at the tower, then to Maui with a skeptical look. "You kidding, man? Lalotai's _down,_ dummy. Not up."

Picking up the crab and holding him under his arm as he stepped off the boat, Maui chuckled, "Oh, I know. This is just the entrance."

Squirming slightly under his grasp, Tamatoa grumbled, "I hope you're not planning on climbing up that thing like this…"

With a mischievous smirk, Maui twirled his hook and transformed into a hawk again, taking the crab in his talons and darting into the sky, satisfied at the startled yelp he got out of the creature.

When they reached the top, Maui plopped Tamatoa on the ground, shifting back into his regular form. The decapod skittered away from him and snapped, _"Are you nuts?!"_

Maui simply laughed and replied, "Oh, that isn't even the _fun part."_

When the human-like being started doing a strange dance and shouting excessively, Tamatoa was convinced that this man was indeed insane. But when the entrance of Lalotai did open, that was the least of his worries.

Backing away even further, the crab protested, "No no no no no, I am NOT jumping down there!"

"Too late!" Maui grinned, and before the crustacean could react, he was picked up by Maui and they were then plummeting through the hole and plunging into the sea.

When they finally landed in Lalotai, the crustacean immediately broke out of Maui's grip, masking his terror from everything that just happened with blatant rage. "You stupid moron! Are you _trying_ to get us killed?!"

Maui, casually dusting himself off, replied idly, "If I were trying to do that, we'd be dead." He then swung his hook over his shoulder and said, "So! Where's this connection to Lalotai and the surface you were talking about?"

The decapod growled irritatedly under his breath, then went quiet for a moment. Maybe he could ditch this guy and put him on the right path all at the same time. He never said he'd take him all the way after all, just that he'd show him which way to go. "Oh, right. Yeah. Uh… Here, you just keep going this way. And be quiet; you don't want to get attacked on the way, now do you?" With that, he trotted off down a path that lead to a very bushy area.

Following closely, Maui looked around. As the crab started to enter the longer grass, the demigod was starting to lose sight of him. "Crab cake? Getting kinda hard to see you over there."

"Quiet, remember?" Tamatoa replied, a victorious grin appearing on his face as he saw his plan was starting to work.

Maui rolled his eyes, but remained quiet and continued following the creature; or at least, so he thought. After a minute or so of silent walking, Maui called out quietly, "Crab cake?"

No response.

"… Tamatoa?"

Still nothing.

Starting to worry now, the demigod hastily shifted the grass around him with his hook in search of the creature. After minutes of searching the area and finding nothing, the demigod facepalmed in annoyance. "That stupid crab…"

In a different direction, the crab ran away from where he left the shapeshifter, snickering to himself all the while. _Don't have to deal with that stupid demigod anymore, I held up my part of the deal and showed him which way to go, everyone's happy._

The decapod came to an abrupt stop, however, when he accidentally ran into a clearing cluttered with a group of bat monsters fighting over the carcass of some other creature. The monsters turned their head to look at the new arrival, eyes glowing red and poison dripping from their fangs.

 _Oh._

 _This is._

 _Very bad._


	17. Flashback Time! (Part 4)

_Crack!_

The first bat that came at him fell to the floor, lifeless, after a full-force blow to the head it received from the crab's claw. Four left, Tamatoa realized as the remaining bat creatures circled him.

Another one leaped at the crab, batting him with its wing and knocking him backwards. A wave of panic started to rise within him as he recovered from the blow, knowing he wouldn't be able to overpower four of these at once. He tried to run, but another one of them lunged at the crab and pinned him against a rock, ready to sink its fangs into the crab's skin.

Tamatoa thrashed around to try to break free from the monster's grip, but to no avail. He cursed himself for not sticking with the demigod a little while longer; if he had just been more patient, he would have taken more care in parting ways with him and not been so stupid as to run into this mess.

Just as the bat was bending down to finish Tamatoa off, a large, ferocious-looking dog burst into the clearing, snarling viciously as it knocked the bat monster away from the quivering crab.

 _"Maui…?!"_ Tamatoa exclaimed in disbelief.

After chasing away that one of the monsters, Maui changed to his human-like form, hook brightly illuminated as he readied himself to take on the next monster. "Stay behind me, crab cake!" He ordered, slashing the wing of an oncoming bat.

No trouble there. Tamatoa wasn't planning on getting pinned again anytime soon.

Maui glared at the two remaining monsters, swinging his hook threateningly. "Go on! Get out of here!" He yelled.

The two creatures hissed angrily, but backed off regardless, seeming nervous of the demigod. Not willing to take the risk, the pair of bats flew off.

Maui then turned to face the crab, looking very unimpressed.

"Why did you come back…?" Tamatoa asked shakily, trying to process everything that just happened. "I showed you which way to go, so why did you…?"

"How am I supposed to know that you weren't just misleading me so you could get away?" Maui replied as he picked up the crab, looking him over almost like he was checking to see if the crustacean was okay.

"Why would I do that?!" The crab snapped. "That would just make you track me down again so that I'd show you the _real_ way and make this whole dumb trip even _longer!"_

Eh. He had a good point. To be honest, part of the reason he came back was because Maui was actually starting to _like_ Tamatoa. He was a funny little guy, despite his occasional annoyingness. "Well, maybe it just isn't as fun without my little crab guide." Maui said with a smirk as he held the crab under his arm again, going back in the direction of where Tamatoa said the connection between Lalotai and the surface was.

"What part of this is _fun?!"_ Tamatoa snarled angrily. "Put me down, you big oaf! I held up to my part of the deal, you don't need me anymore!"

"Y'know, for a guy whose life I just saved, you sure don't sound very grateful. A 'thank you' would be nice." Maui said teasingly.

 _"_ _ **Thank you?!"**_ The crab spat in disbelief.

"You're welcome!" Maui answered with a cocky grin.

"AAAH THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT YOU STUPID DEMIGOD I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN IN THAT SITUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU PUT ME DOWN YOU DUMB—" Tamatoa's little rant turned into a marbled jumble of unintelligible angry crab noises, which only made Maui laugh.

"So, what happened to that thing about 'being quiet'?" Maui said with a grin after Tamatoa calmed down a bit.

"You are _insufferable."_ The angry decapod snapped back, claws folded in annoyance.

A few minutes of silence passed as the demigod trudged through the tall grass.

"… I still don't get why you went through all that trouble back there." The crab muttered quietly. "You could've found the link yourself."

Maui shrugged slightly, brushing past some of the taller grass with his hook. "Well, I couldn't just let you get eaten. That would be immoral."

"That's _literally_ how Lalotai works! Morality just gets you killed down here!" Tamatoa couldn't believe how stupid this guy was. How humans live with such a stupid belief of "harmony" and "togetherness", he would never know.

"Really?" Maui challenged, glancing down at the crab with an eyebrow raised. "'Cause from where I stand, you would've been killed if I _hadn't_ stepped in because of my morals."

The crab started to open his mouth to argue, but stopped when he couldn't come up with a comeback. The deity was kind of right in this case. "Hmph." Tamatoa huffed, looking away.

More silence.

When they finally reached the end of the tall grass, Tamatoa asked, "Can you put me down now? You reek."

"You're no bed of roses yourself, kid." Maui laughed as he complied with the creature's request, knowing he could keep a proper eye on him now so he wouldn't get away.

"I don't know what those are." The crab said with a roll of his eyes, scuttling alongside Maui.

"Just fancy red flowers." Maui explained casually.

Tamatoa cast him an annoyed glance. "I don't know what those are, either. Not from the surface, remember?"

Huh. Fair enough. Maui probably should've expected that, considering he didn't even know what the sun was.

The trip was longer than Tamatoa would have liked, but at least the other monsters seemed to recognize Maui's power and left them alone for the most part. Tamatoa turned his attention to the man's tattoos again; they piqued his interest to no end. Maui must have done some incredible things, he figured, if it was worth having the accomplishments permanently embedded into his skin. Tamatoa noticed a tattoo that seemed to be of Maui holding something up. He couldn't understand the art very well, even though he really liked the designs.

"What's that one for?" Tamatoa asked, pointing at the tattoo.

Maui glanced down at the picture on his chest. "That? That one's for pulling up the sky!" He said proudly, flexing his muscles.

"What's the sky?" Tamatoa asked, not really sure why he was so curious.

"It's what holds the sun," Maui answered, gesturing to the tattoo on the other side of his chest, "which I lassoed, by the way."

Tamatoa tilted his head slightly to see the other tattoo, frowning in confusion. "Why do you do that stuff?"

Maui went quiet for just a moment, then looked away and shrugged. "For the humans!" He replied matter-of-factly. "I give them anything they need!"

"Why?" Tamatoa asked skeptically. "What do you gain from it?"

Again, Maui said nothing for a moment. "… Well, I… like making them happy. That's all the payment I need."

"… Huh." Tamatoa said, still confused. "Sounds pretty dumb to me. But then again, humans are dumb as is, so—"

"You can't just call things dumb because you don't understand them, kid." Maui responded flatly, not taking kindly to his insults.

"What's there to understand?" Tamatoa inquired, genuinely curious as to why he was getting riled up over nothing.

"You wouldn't get it. It's a people thing." Maui said simply.

Great. Now Tamatoa was annoyed. He didn't like it when people thought he couldn't do something. But maybe Maui was right on this one; he hasn't understood anything about the way humans think so far, so why would he get it?

Instead, he asked about one of the other tattoos. Maui seemed to like talking about them, so maybe that would relieve some of this weird tension. "What's that one on your stomach?"

"Haha, funny story, actually… I, uh, stole fire from down here for the humans. They had been freezing at night. But it's okay, because now they can make their own and you guys still have some, so everybody's happy!" The deity laughed with a wink.

"… I see." The crab replied. "I didn't know you've been down here before."

"Only once." Maui said. "And that was just for the fire, so I didn't exactly explore like we're doing now."

"Hm." Made sense. No wonder he wasn't better educated in the ways of Lalotai.

The crustacean looked around his body for more tattoos to ask about. Hearing about his conquests was surprisingly interesting. Unfortunately, there wasn't many left to choose from. One on his shoulder, he guessed, was for his shapeshifting ability; it looked like him turning into a hawk, from what Tamatoa could tell… The crab circled around to Maui's other side, trying to get a better look.

But as he did so, he noticed something familiar from behind Maui. _Oh no._

Without any warning, the crab bolted in front of Maui's feet, causing him to trip and fall.

"Hey!" Maui shouted, "What was that for?!" As he started to get back to his feet, he saw a long, sticky tongue had stuck its tip on the ground in front of him, only narrowly missing Maui due to his fall.

"Move, you stupid demigod!" Tamatoa snapped, trying to push him. "Y'wanna get eaten?!"

Reacting quickly now, Maui shot to his feet, grabbing his fish hook and the little crab, looking to the source of the tongue as it retracted.

The monster it belonged to was a huge, plant-like creature that seemed to move by uprooting itself and walking on said roots. The creature lashed its tongue around as it prepared to strike again. Maui deflected the next attack with his hook, but when the tongue struck the hook, it stuck like glue. Before Maui could react, the creature launched him into some rocks, ripping the hook from his grip and causing him to drop Tamatoa.

Tamatoa scrambled to his feet immediately, looking over to their attacker. The plant threw the hook to the side, its attention seeming fixated on Maui.

 _This is it. This is my chance to get away from that dumb deity._ He thought. _All I need to do is leave him to the plant and get outta here._ The crustacean quickly turned to run away, but couldn't seem to leave.

… Why was he hesitating if this was so easy?

He glanced back again. Watching Maui struggle to get to his hook only to be thrown down again by the plant monster was, for some reason, troubling to him. Did he feel like he owed Maui something for saving his life, or…? He couldn't tell.

Tamatoa didn't like this feeling. It was strange.

He let out a sigh of pure irritation, then scuttled towards a nearby tree.

Maui punched the plant, fazing it for a moment, but only seeming to make it angrier as a final result. It shot its tongue at Maui's arm, wrapping the pink organ around his wrist. The demigod grabbed the tongue with his free arm, trying to rip it off, but even with his great strength, it was just too stretchy to rip. The creature pulled Maui towards its opening jaw, fangs now bared.

Just as the creature was about to clamp down on its prey, it got struck in the back of the head with what seemed to be a deformed coconut. Disoriented, but still holding onto its catch, the creature glared at the tree where the attack came from.

Tamatoa launched himself at the creature from atop the tree, landing on the thing's face. The creature screeched in alarm, its grip too tightened on Maui to switch targets. With impressive swiftness, Tamatoa chopped off the monster's tongue, causing it to shriek in pain and Maui to fall backwards from being suddenly freed from its grip. Writhing in pain, the creature craned its head to aim its mouth at the crab, snapping its jaws furiously. Tamatoa dodged the creature's bite, latching his claws into the monster's neck and decapitating it in an instant.

Maui watched in disbelief as the creature's large head dropped to the floor, and Tamatoa jumped down to the ground as its lifeless body followed suit. The crab seemed unfazed, shaking the thing's green blood off of his claws before looking over at Maui. "Yeesh. Thought you were supposed to be an all-powerful demigod, man. That was a _terrible_ performance."

Maui shook the dismembered tongue off of his wrist as he reached for his hook, watching the crab with a smirk now. "Why'd you help me, crab cake? What'd you gain from that?"

Tamatoa narrowed his eyes, hating that the demigod was using his own words against him. "Shut up. That was just… to make sure I no longer owe you anything, got it?"

"I wasn't aware that you owed me anything in the first place." Maui replied, smirk widening a bit.

"Ugh, whatever! I should've just let it eat you!" Tamatoa growled, continuing along the path they were taking. "If you're done being annoying and slow, let's keep moving!"

Maui watched the crab scuttle along with a chuckle, following behind him.

Once more, they were quiet. Maui watched the little crab, still impressed with how well he fought for such a tiny thing. "I've got to apologize to you, Tamatoa."

"What?" The crab queried, turning one eye towards him. "Why?"

"I really underestimated you." Maui continued. "I never expected such brute force out of such a puny, beady-eyed—"

"—useless, ugly bottom feeder?" Tamatoa finished, narrowing his eyes a bit. "Don't worry about it. I'm…" He sighed, turning his attention forward again, "… I'm used to it."

Maui blinked, not expecting to hear such insecurity in his voice all of a sudden. He didn't really consider how often the crab must hear ridicule like that, being his size and somewhat goofy appearance in a land filled with vicious monsters. No wonder he gets so upset when Maui teases him.

… He somehow felt empathetic towards the crab now. Both of them shared strong feelings of inadequacy in their communities, after all…

Turns out they actually have something in common. Weird.

"You can see the connection now." Tamatoa said as they got over a hill, desperate to change the topic and get rid of this uncomfortable awkwardness. "That's the thing I fell into." He then pointed with a claw at a large geyser shooting out water; it was far more massive than any regular geyser from down there, and the flow of water didn't seem to be stopping.

"Oooh, so _that's_ how all the monsters are getting shot up!" Maui realized. "I wonder why it's doing that…"

The crab shot Maui a side glance. "Shouldn't you be worrying more about how to _stop_ it?" He reckoned. "That's what you wanted to come down here for, right?"

Maui wore a confident grin, raising an eyebrow at the crustacean. "That won't be a problem, my friend."

Before Tamatoa could protest about being called "friend" again, the shapeshifter turned into a hawk, snatching the crab carefully in his talons and bringing them closer to the jet of intense water. As they landed, the crab skittered a safe distance away, definitely not wanting to get fired into the ocean a second time.

He watched as Maui twirled his hook, eyeing a nearby wall of rock that had to be at least thirty feet tall. With one mighty swing, he shattered the stone structure, causing it to break into several large boulders. He went over to the largest rock that broke off, though still massive in size.

 _Surely he can't lift that,_ Tamatoa thought to himself.

Nope, he was wrong. Maui lifted the boulder with little difficulty, and with a hardy swing, launched the hunk of rock into the geyser like a pebble.

As Maui had anticipated, the rock was heavy enough to plug the geyser, completely cutting off the stream of water. Slapping his hands together to dust them off, he concluded, "Well, that was easier than I thought."

Tamatoa blinked, astounded at how easy that was for him.

"So. Tamatoa." Maui addressed the crab, folding his arms. "You got a home or someplace you stay? I can take you there, if you want."

"I can get there myself, thanks." He snapped bitterly.

"Hey, just offering." Maui retorted, doing his signature eyebrow-raise. "It's probably farther away than you're used to travelling, and—"

 _"I can take care of_ _myself!_ _"_ Tamatoa snapped, clicking his pincers together. "The only reason I got into a tussle with those stupid bats is because of _you,_ so don't even start!"

Maui, unfazed by the crab's words, continued, "Look, kid. You did me a solid by showing me this geyser. Let me return the favour. Surely it'll be a safer trip back for you if I tagged along. After all, I'd say we've both proven that there's strength in numbers at this point, wouldn't you agree?"

The crustacean hesitated, thinking it over. He was right; it was a long way back to his lair. There weren't many things for him to hide under on the way, either… And, though he couldn't explain it, he _did_ feel significantly safer with the shapeshifter by his side somehow...

"… Fine." He said finally, clicking his claws once more. "It's this way." With that, the crab trotted off through Lalotai, Maui following close behind.

The walk was quiet at first, as usual, but the crustacean was quick to ask him about a few more of his tattoos to pass the time. Maui was happy to oblige, providing more in-depth explanations about how he earned them. Luckily for the demigod, Tamatoa didn't notice a particular tattoo on his back due to all the hair covering it.

Their conversation seemed to make time fly, because the pair had arrived at the crab's lair much sooner than Tamatoa had expected.

"All this space for one little tyke…?" Maui wondered aloud as they wandered inside, admiring the oddly pretty aesthetics of the cave, also noticing the pool of water in the top.

"Oh trust me, I'll be needing it." The crab responded slyly. "I've still got a _loot_ of growing to do." He started to settle himself down in the sand, then paused as a thought crossed his mind. "… Wanna see something cool?" He asked Maui.

Maui, now curious, nodded in response.

The crab then scuttled to a nearby wall, and then punched it with all his might, causing a shell to block out the light that filtered through the pool, and the demigod's eyes widened slightly as he saw the now-glowing algae light up the cave; though that paled in comparison to Tamatoa's stunning bioluminescent designs.

"Hey!" Maui laughed as he admired the crab's new appearance. "It's like you've got some tattoos of your own!"

Tamatoa shrugged slightly, crawling back down into the sand. "Not really. They can't be seen in the light, so…"

"Still kid, it's pretty cool. And hey, you're a resourceful little crab; I'm sure you could find a way to keep that shell decorated full-time if you really wanted to." Maui declared with a wink.

Tamatoa blinked, not saying anything in response, but taking a moment to think his words over.

"Well," Maui said, "I guess I should get out of your hair- or, rather, lack thereof."

"Oh, please do." Tamatoa sighed with relief, suddenly feeling the eagerness of wanting him to leave again.

With a swing of his hook, Maui transformed into a hawk, glancing back at the crab once more as he prepared to take off. "Well crab cake, this was pretty fun. Maybe I'll visit again sometime." He said with a smirk.

Tamatoa rolled his eyes at that last comment. "Don't bother unless you get some new tattoos for me to look at." He scoffed.

"I'll keep that in mind." The bird laughed before taking off, flying away through Lalotai.

 _Yeah, right._ Tamatoa shuffled around in the sand, covering himself up a bit with it. Today was such a weird, weird day.

… But interesting. Really interesting. That was… an oddly nice change of pace compared to his normal experiences in Lalotai. Maui was better company than anyone down here, that's for sure.

… Wait, what was he thinking? _Company?_ He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head, taking a moment to remember the ways of Lalotai. He can't think like that down here. Nonetheless, it probably didn't matter. The demigod had no obligation to come back, after all, so that was definitely the last time Tamatoa would ever see him, he figured.

 _ **Hoo boy, was he ever wrong.**_


	18. Flashback Time! (Last Part)

Maui landed gracefully to the ground after the long drop down to Lalotai. It had been several months since he last came here, but not much seems to have changed. Looking around, he tried to remember which way it was to Tamatoa's lair, then began to walk.

When the demigod finally reached the cave, he entered quietly, not seeing the crab. He must have stepped out or something. He decided to stick around in the cave until the crustacean returned.

A shimmer of light caught Maui's eye from a large pile of gold and treasures that he didn't remember from last time. Curious, he wandered over, plucking an artifact from the pile and examining it. "What's all this…?" He wondered aloud. Just as he was about to put it back to pick up another one, the pile rose from the ground at a shocking speed, and smashed into Maui with extreme force, knocking him on his back.

With a ferocious snarl, Tamatoa lunged on top of the deity, pinning him to the ground with one claw and preparing to strike with the other; however, he froze immediately after recognizing who it was.

" _Maui?_ " He realized, backing off to let the visitor get back up. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I said I'd come by again, didn't I…?" Maui said as a rose to his feet, shocked at how much the crustacean has grown. Tamatoa was almost as tall as _he_ was now. "Wow, look at you! You weren't kidding when you said you had a lot of growing to do!"

Tamatoa gave the deity a confused look, unable to comprehend why he had bothered coming back. "Uh… Yeah, I guess. This is still nothing much, though." He tilted his head slightly. "I wasn't really expecting to see you again, man."

"Yeesh, I should have came back sooner! I need to start visiting more often while I'm still taller than you!" Maui laughed, then raised an eyebrow. "Why weren't you?"

"Well, I… didn't think you had any _reason_ to come back." Tamatoa said with a blink.

"Sure I did!" Maui grinned, casually leaning on his hook. "I wanted to see how my new crab buddy was doing!" As he said that, he pat the crab on the head.

Before the extremely puzzled crustacean could react to the pat, Maui circled around to admire Tamatoa's collection of treasures. "So hey, looks like you _did_ find a way to fancy up that shell of yours!" He snickered. "Where'd you get all this stuff?"

Um. This is weird. 'Buddy'? 'Visit'? Tamatoa could have sworn he made it clear to Maui that that's not how things work down here. Why couldn't this thick-skulled deity understand that?

… And why was Tamatoa feeling _happy_ to see Maui again? That's the part the crustacean understood the least right now.

He quickly snapped back to attention when he realized he'd been asked a question. "Oh. Uh. Well, I… was thinking about the sun, and it made me remember about a trove of sunken ships filled with shiny things that I used to explore…" He glanced at Maui's tattoos, then back to his face and continued, "… I liked how they looked, so…"

"Well, it's creative, to say the least!" He chuckled, putting the treasure piece he picked up back on the crab's shell. "And hey now, a trove of sunken ships?" Maui repeated with intrigue. "Sounds cool. You should show me. Maybe you've got some Kakamora ships down here."

The hell is Kakamora? Why is Maui so confusing?

Quiet for a moment, the crustacean suddenly narrowed his eyes and smirked slightly. "First thing's first. I told you not to come back down here unless you got a new tattoo to show me, so pay up."

"Ha, you got it, crab cake." Maui replied as he flexed his arm, showcasing a tattoo of the demigod defeating what appeared to be an octopus-like monster.

Tamatoa lightly traced over the tattoo with a claw, tilting his head slightly. "What's so special about beating up some dumb squid?"

"Not just _any_ dumb squid," Maui chuckled, "but the last remaining monster from that geyser. Not to mention the strongest. Defeating that one signifies putting an end to that whole mess. And hey! Since you helped me out with quenching that thing, you're also to thank for the new tat!"

Oh. That's… kind of cool.

"Well, you're welcome, then." Tamatoa replied, imitating Maui's arrogant 'you're welcome' smirk from before. "Anyways. You wanted to see those boats?"

Maui kept his word. His visits to the crab became much more frequent over time, usually around once a month, but sometimes even more than that. The crustacean had grown much more comfortable around Maui, and had even stopped minding his teasing, though that could have something to do with how he actually asked Tamatoa if he found it too offensive at some point; the fact that the demigod actually cared enough to make sure he wasn't overstepping boundaries made the crab realize that he didn't really _mean_ any of it. He had even started picking on the shapeshifter jokingly in return, mostly commenting on how short he was after outgrowing him.

Tamatoa still wasn't sure why he looked forward to these visits. He was convinced that it couldn't be because he was starting to _like_ the demigod; that would be absurd. Perhaps he just found it interesting that he could behave so casually with another being without any repercussions. That kind of thing _never_ happens in Lalotai.

Their days were often spent exploring new areas of Lalotai, with an occasional trip to the trove of ships so Maui could help him get decorations for his shell. Many of their discussions involved Maui trying to explain to the crustacean how humans acted with each other, and how it was a far more pleasant way of living than Lalotai's ways. Tamatoa didn't understand a lot of it, but he listened nonetheless. He _wanted_ to understand, or at least try to.

On one of their trips to the shipwrecks, Tamatoa noticed something unusual. Maui had gone down to one of the wrecks that Tamatoa couldn't get to properly due to his size, him being at least fifteen feet tall at this point, but the demigod's hair got snagged on one of the broken pieces of wood as he was collecting valuables for the crab. Annoyed, the shapeshifter grabbed a nearby vine and tied his hair up in a bun, absentmindedly revealing the tattoo on his back while doing so.

Tamatoa's eyes perked up slightly upon noticing this unfamiliar picture. Though Maui was a fair distance away from him, the crab could make out an image of what seemed to be a female human throwing one of their young into the sea.

Odd. Tamatoa couldn't see mini Maui anywhere in the image, so what could the deity have possibly done to earn such a strange tattoo?

… And why had he hidden it all this time? If there was one thing he knew about Maui, it was how he loved to gloat about his tapestry of victories.

Maui, oblivious of the fact that he had left the tattoo exposed, walked back towards the crab with a treasure chest in one hand as if nothing was wrong. "Here you are, my friend!" He beamed, holding the chest of valuables out to the crab.

Tamatoa glanced at the box, not as captivated as he would normally be by it right now. He plucked the chest out of Maui's hand, placing it on the ground for now.

Maui, confused as to why the crab didn't seem enthusiastic about the find, frowned. "Is something wro—Hey!" The deity exclaimed in surprise as the crab picked him up, turning him around.

"What is this?" Tamatoa asked, tapping the unfamiliar picture with a pincer.

Maui's eyes widened as he realized his mistake. Biting his tongue, he tried to reach to his bun to let his hair down, but Tamatoa pulled his arm away with his free claw.

" _Drop it,_ crab cake." Maui growled.

Tamatoa blinked, even more curious now. "I thought you were _proud_ of your tattoos. What's different about this one?" He inquired, inspecting the design. "And why aren't you even in this picture?"

"I said **_drop it,_** Tamatoa!" Maui snapped, the sudden hostility in his voice startling the crab.

"I… Okay." Tamatoa complied hesitantly, not wanting to upset the deity further.

The walk back to the lair was awkwardly quiet, neither of them looking at each other. Tamatoa still couldn't understand what he did wrong, and Maui couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to say something. Anything.

Upon returning to Tamatoa's home, the crab went over to one edge of the cave, emptying the treasure chest of its contents so he could sort through them. Maui stood near the entrance, watching the crustacean with a look of confliction.

"… I _am_ in the picture." He said finally, catching Tamatoa's attention. The crab glanced over at the deity with intrigue, saying nothing, but clearly wanting him to continue.

With a sigh, Maui turned around so Tamatoa could see the tattoo again. "I'm the kid."

Tamatoa slowly walked over to him, examining the image once more. "I don't understand." He said confusedly, trying to figure out what sort of conquest this could possibly symbolize.

Sighing again, Maui explained, "I was born human. My parents, they… threw me into the sea."

Tamatoa tilted his head, frowning slightly. "Why?"

"They just… they didn't _want_ me." He shook his head; even Tamatoa could tell this was painful for him, though he couldn't really tell why. Parental figures in Lalotai did things like that all the time. They don't really care about their young like humans do, so this expectation Maui seemed to have of his parents loving and caring for him was a foreign concept to the crustacean.

Nonetheless, Tamatoa did know that that's what is expected of humans. So, he thinks he can get why Maui might be upset. However, he also started to realize something else… "That's why you try so hard to please the humans, isn't it?"

Maui looked away, quiet. "… The gods saved me and made me who I am now. I might as well put my power to good use."

"… Hm." The crab took a step back, looking over Maui for a moment. "… Well, it's your parent's loss. They missed out on a decent human being." He concluded simply, turning back to his treasures.

Maui blinked, surprised. Tamatoa wasn't the type to outwardly praise someone else. "… Thanks, Tamatoa." He said with a weak smile.

If only that reassurance was enough.

The crustacean could tell it wasn't.

He tried time and time again to assure the demigod that he was worth more than the actions of his parents, but he just couldn't find a way to say it that made sense.

The void inside of him was just too vast to be fixed so easily.

Monsters aren't meant to comfort. It just… doesn't work.

Over the years, Maui had started visiting less frequently; his main obligation was to the human race, after all, and Tamatoa seemed to understand. From what Maui could tell, at least.

The crustacean had been growing more egocentrical as he became prettier and larger, since the other monsters of Lalotai had started to fear him. Now that he posed an actual threat, he was treated with what Lalotai might call "respect". But even though he acts like a pompous jerk a lot lately, Maui could still tell the crab used it to hide insecurities he just didn't want to face.

Maui started to wonder how much he even meant to the crab anymore. He seemed to care more about collecting shiny things and improving his status rather than their friendship. Though, he gave him the benefit of the doubt, since he knew it was difficult for the crab to express emotions in a way Maui could understand.

One day that stood out in Maui's mind was the time he walked in on Tamatoa with his grandmother's half-devoured corpse.

The demigod walked into the lair expecting the crab to be napping below his fish pool or something, but when he instead saw the half-eaten carcass of a giant coconut crab, panic gripped him. "Tamatoa?!" He gasped. This crab was much larger than he remembered Tamatoa being, and seemed to lack his shine, but his first assumption was still that this corpse might be his friend. Panicked, he darted into the cave to make sure, and let out a breath of relief when he saw a smaller crustacean sorting through a pile of artifacts near the back of the cave- well, he shouldn't say small. The decapod had to have been at least twenty-five feet tall at this point.

Tamatoa glanced over with a skeptical look upon hearing the demigod's arrival. "You look like you've seen a ghost, man." He remarked nonchalantly.

"What the heck is _that_ about?!" Maui exclaimed, gesturing to the giant carcass.

Tamatoa gave the thing a disinterested glance before turning back to his trinkets. "Just a body, Maui. Grandma shouldn't have been here in the first place."

"That's your _grandmother?!"_ Maui gasped, horrified. "Why would you kill—Why would you _eat_ your own grandma?!"

Annoyed, the crustacean turned to face Maui. "She would have eaten _me_ if I hadn't. Stop acting like this is your first time in Lalotai." He replied coldly.

Maui should have expected as much, but… even in a place like Lalotai, it shocked him that anyone would do that to their own grandparent. He couldn't blame Tamatoa for defending himself, but he couldn't quite look at his friend in the same light after that incident.

Tamatoa only began to take notice of Maui starting to distance himself some time after that event. Was it because he ate his grandmother…? No, that couldn't be it. He'd started becoming a little distant even before that.

So what could it be? Was he intimidated by the crab now?

No, that couldn't be it, either. Maui doesn't let monsters intimidate him. Perhaps Tamatoa was just too good for the demigod now.

… No. He knew _that_ wasn't true. Tamatoa always considered Maui to be the better half out of the two of them. He was basically the crab's role model, after all… though he would sooner die than admit any of that to him.

… Tamatoa was scared to lose him. Sure, they've had their fair share of spats, but…

... He probably had better friends to spend his time with, huh. He _is_ Maui, demigod of the wind and sea, hero of men... and Tamatoa is just... some monster. Of course Maui would prefer his own kind.

...

He didn't bring up these concerns with his shapeshifter friend, of course; couldn't have Maui thinking he was clingy or dependant on him. That would be unacceptable.

Tamatoa would just have to value what time he _did_ get to spend with Maui a little bit more.

One of their next visits was spent venturing into an area of Lalotai they hadn't yet explored; it was a dark, marshy area cloaked with trees and vines. Luckily, Tamatoa's bioluminescence acted as a good source of light.

Looking around, Maui asked, "What do you think could be down here?"

"Who knows?" Tamatoa responded, brushing away some bushes in their path. "Could be anything. My guess is as good as yours-"

The crustacean paused suddenly, his antennae quivering for a moment. Maui glanced back, wondering why the crab had stopped. "What's wrong?"

"Shh," He hissed, looking around with narrowed eyes. He could have sworn he sensed the presence of another. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw what he had thought to be a vine rise from the marshy ground and start to move towards the demigod.

Reacting quickly, Tamatoa grabbed Maui, pulling him out of the way of the thing's strike and placing him on his shell. Maui gripped his hook tightly, causing it to glow a brilliant blue. "Any kind of monster you've encountered before?" He asked the crab.

Tamatoa shook his head as he backed away, not recognizing what he could see of the beast to be anything he knew. Both Maui and Tamatoa's eyes widened when they saw a large, dark mass rise from the ground, composed of a swarm of vine-like appendages that moved like snakes. The creature was far taller than Tamatoa, and seemed to have one glowing green eye instead of a face.

The pair had faced off against many monsters in their travels before, but none quite like this one. "Looks like we're in for a challenge…" Maui commented, raising an eyebrow. "You up to it, crab cake?"

"Oh please," Tamatoa scoffed, "You think I would let an ugly beast like _that_ get the best of beautiful moi?"

With a snap of his claws, the crab tore off an oncoming vine, causing the creature to snarl in anger. Maui shifted his form to that of a hawk, darting at the beast and slashing it with his talons.

The creature smacked Maui out of the sky in retaliation, but while Maui had it distracted, Tamatoa barreled into the thing, knocking it over. "Good hit!" Maui called as he took back to the air.

"Naturally." Tamatoa crowed, keeping his eye on the creature as it rose again. The monster wavered from side to side, its large eye scoping out the crab's treasures. It seemed entranced by the glow they gave off. With one swift movement, a tangle of vines shot at the crustacean's shell, snagging some of the valuables.

"Oooh, you should _not_ have done that…" Maui smirked, knowing how the crab _detested_ thieves.

With an enraged snarl, Tamatoa lunged at the creature, chopping off the vines that had his possessions. The beast let out a shrill caterwaul, retracting its appendages in response. The crab, not willing to let the creature off so easily, continued tearing at any part of the beast he could grab.

Maui's eyes widened when he realized their situation was worse than expected. _"Tamatoa, stop!"_ He called, flying down to cut off the crab from making another hit.

"What are you doing?!" The decapod hissed, snapping his claws together. When Maui gestured to the beast's dismembered limbs, Tamatoa realized what he meant. "… Oh."

The vines that had been torn off the creature had started forming a second entity, making spasm-like movements as it reconnected with the big creature. The monster's eye flickered, almost as if it was laughing at the pair.

"Maui, its eye." Tamatoa whispered, watching the beast with disdain.

"Good idea. I'm on it." Maui launched himself at the creature, aiming his hook at the thing's eye. Before the demigod could make the hit, the creature smacked him out of the air again. Its focus seemed to be on Maui now, dead-set on defending its sensitive spot.

Tamatoa tilted his head slightly, an idea forming in his mind. The crab darted over to Maui and stood over him, angling his shell carefully to produce optimum shine. The creature, unable to see Maui from behind the crab, became distracted by the glow of the crustacean.

"That's right, eyes on me. I'm _far_ more pleasing to look at, no?" Tamatoa smirked, slowly moving to the side to give Maui an opening while still holding the attention of the strange creature. Maui moved slowly at first, not wanting the thing to notice him again or catch on to their plan. He shapeshifted into a snake, stealthily slithering up the creature's appendages to get close to the eye

However, just as Maui was about to deal the final blow, the creature realized the unfamiliar snake crawling near its eye and let out a bellow as it yanked the demigod off of itself. It pinned the demigod to the ground, wrapping its vines around his neck and starting to strangle him.

Reacting quickly, Maui changed shape again, slipping free from the creature's grip in the form of an otter, and cursing under his breath due to their plan failing. The creature, furious now, continued to lash at Maui. Though he dodged the attacks well, he couldn't get proper aim at his target while it wasn't distracted.

Tamatoa sighed, knowing what he had to do. He plucked a clawful of treasures off of his back, then turned to the beast. _"Hey!"_ He shouted, getting its attention. Tamatoa threw the glowing items to the ground, the creature's pupil dilating as it watched them scatter in the mud. Forgetting about Maui, the beast darted to the ground, greedily snatching up anything it could find with its several appendages.

Seeing his chance, Maui ran at the monster with his hook in hand, and with one mighty swing, stabbed the monster in the eye.

The thing let out a blood-curtling scream, all its limbs spasming dangerously. "Go, go, go!" Maui shouted as he jumped onto Tamatoa's shell, the pair of them fleeing the swampland while they still could.

Upon returning to Tamatoa's lair, the exhausted duo plopped down to rest in the sand, and Maui had already started laughing about the encounter. "Now _that_ tops any monster we've seen so far in Lalotai!"

"Ha," Tamatoa smirked, turning one eye to glance at the demigod. "That's nothing. A _real_ challenge would be Mana'aihue."

"Oh?" Maui said as he sat up, curiosity piqued. "You think I, Maui, couldn't take on this 'Mana'aihue' of Lalotai?" He returned the crab's smirk.

"Oh, you would lose _so_ hard." Tamatoa replied, both eyes now on Maui. "Mana'aihue is a stealer of powers. All he'd need is one touch of your precious fish hook," the crab plucked the fish hook from beside Maui and raised it into the air for dramatic effect, "and he'd have access to _aaall_ your shapeshifting capabilities, mon ami." The crustacean put the hook back down, snickering at the deity. "You wouldn't stand a chance."

Maui rolled his eyes, chuckling. "I doubt that. Besides, I bet with my crab buddy by my side, we could take on _any_ monster down here. Let Mana'aihue try, but we'd win!"

"Well, Mana'aihue is only a rumour, man. But I _am_ a pretty awesome teammate." The crustacean responded with a wink. "Don't know where'd you be without me."

The two shared a quick laugh, then went quiet for a while. Maui liked moments like this when the crab was in good humour. It made him remember why they were still friends, which is something he's forgotten far too often.

"… Sorry you had to throw away some of your treasures." Maui apologized.

Tamatoa shrugged slightly. Sure, he was irritated about having to do that, but it shouldn't matter too much in the long run. Maui's life was more important. "Don't worry about it. I'll replace 'em."

"… You're a good guy, you know that?" Maui said suddenly.

"Of course! I'm strong and great, just look at me!" Tamatoa boasted in response, gesturing to himself.

"Not like that. I mean on the inside, too." The demigod replied.

Confused, Tamatoa glanced at the deity again. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you're better than the others down here." Maui explained with a smile. "Because you don't just care about yourself, y'know? The other monsters couldn't care less about anything but their own survival. You told me that. But you're different. In a good way."

Tamatoa went quiet, taking in his friend's words. He couldn't explain it, but that… meant a lot to him. "… Thanks, Maui."

 ** _Author's note: The rest of this chapter will be recapping their fallout in more detail as a bonus section, and is not actually being recapped again in the actual story._** :)

The day was cold, a chilling breeze blowing through the Realm Of Monsters. Tamatoa, about thirty feet in height at this point, had just returned from a scavenging trip, and was sorting through his new findings as he usually did. He paused, however, when he heard a strange sound from his cave's entrance. Turning his head, he looked around. "Maui?" He called, thinking it was probably just his shapeshifter friend. When the crab got no response, he became suspicious. Rising to his feet, his eyes darted around the cave looking for any sign of movement. It wasn't unusual for other monsters to occasionally wander into his home, so the crab figured this was probably something like that.

"Show yourself." He growled, paying particular attention to the shadowy parts of his lair. If someone was hiding, those would be the most likely spots to go. He started to walk forwards, but as he did, a roped spear shot across his path, forming a tripping wire as it sunk into the ground.

"What th-?!" The crustacean started to back away, but as he did, another spear with rope was launched from behind, causing the crab to trip and stumble. With a growl of frustration, the crab regained his footing and snapped the ropes with his claws to get them out of his way.

As he was dealing with the ropes, two humans darted out of the shadows, one holding a shark-toothed club and the other with a bow and arrow. The archer shot an arrow aimed directly at the crab's face, but Tamatoa shielded himself with his claw, wincing slightly when the weapon struck. His confusion was immediately replaced with anger. Pulling the arrow from his claw, he snarled at the archer and kicked him to the ground. "You've made a mistake by coming here…" He growled hatefully, stepping on the attacker before they could recover from the kick and crushing them.

This earned a cry of anguish and rage from the one with the club as he charged the giant grab, smashing his weapon into Tamatoa's leg. As the crustacean raised a claw to finish off the second attacker, he felt a sudden sting of pain shoot through his neck and hissed.

Turning his eyes to look at the source of the new attack, he was three other humans atop his shell, one of them driving a spear into his neck as the other two had started piling some of his treasures into a sack.

 _Thieves._

Narrowing his eyes, Tamatoa speedily spun around in a circle, causing the intruders to fly off his shell. He wrenched the spear out of his neck, too angry right now to react to the pain. He snatched the human that had been smashing his leg in his claw, though he kept his eye on the two that had been stealing from him.

"So. You come down here to the Realm Of Monsters expecting some kind of benefit? You have the _nerve_ to waltz in here and try to steal from me?" He hissed as he snapped the spine of the one he was holding, killing him instantly. The remaining three humans watched, horrified, as the crustacean carelessly discarded the body. "How incredibly stupid."

Shakily, one of them scrambled to pick up their fallen comrade's club off the ground and launched it at the monster, but Tamatoa simply batted the weapon aside with his claw. He picked her up next, making her suffer the same fate as the second human, then turned to the last two.

They tried to run, but Tamatoa grabbed them before they could get away, one in each claw. Narrowing his eyes to slits, he watched the pair struggle in his grip. "Tell me, you filthy wretches… Was it worth it?"

No response. Just terrified stares.

"P-P-Please l-let us go…!" One of them begged fearfully.

Tamatoa cocked his head to the side, considering it for a moment. "Hmm… So you can come back here with more of your people to attack and steal from me? I don't think so."

Just as he started to tighten his grip on his last two victims, an angry hawk screech came from the entrance. Before Tamatoa could do anything, Maui shot at the crustacean, shifting to his normal form and striking the creature with his hook, knocking him backwards and making him release his grip on the pair of humans. The survivors rushed over to a corner of the cave, watching in shock.

"What are you doing?!" Tamatoa growled as he recovered from the blow.

 _"What are_ _ **you**_ _doing?!"_ Maui snarled back, furious. His eyes widened when he saw the three bodies scattered around the cave, and his hook took on a full blue glow. He gave Tamatoa a horrified and enraged look. _"_ _ **You did this?!**_ _"_

"What was I _supposed_ to do?!" The crab hissed, standing his ground. " _Let_ them raid me?!"

Blinded by rage, Maui darted at Tamatoa and struck him again with his hook, knocking him into a nearby wall.

Dazed from the second hit, Tamatoa struggled to get back to his feet. When he saw the demigod coming in for a third blow, instincts kicked in; the crab bashed Maui with his claw, sending him flying across the room. The crustacean started to panic. He did _not_ want to fight Maui.

Unfortunately, Maui wanted to fight _him._

A flash of blue illuminated the room as he took on the form of a hawk again, flying at the crab full-speed.

Tamatoa tried to retaliate, but Maui was too fast, changing form time and time again as he dealt painful blows to the creature. The crab felt a rush of anger and confusion all at once, hurt that his friend would do this to him. With a swift swing of his claws, Tamatoa finally landed another hit on Maui, knocking him to the ground. As Maui was stunned, the decapod growled, "Why are you defending them?! They attacked _first!"_

 _"Bullshit! They wouldn't_ _do_ _that!"_ Maui spat hatefully, rising to his feet again. He felt another shot of rage go through him as he glanced once more at the bodies, facing the crab again. _"You greedy_ _ **bastard!**_ _You're_ _ **just**_ _like the rest of those heartless monsters!"_ Trembling, he tightened his grip on his fish hook. _"All you care about is_ _ **yourself!**_ _"_

Tamatoa took a step back, shocked. Did he really mean so little to Maui that he would sooner degrade him, that he would sooner side with his _attackers_ than believe him? "Maui, that's not t—"

He was cut off by a flash of blue as the shapeshifter flew at him again, slashing at his face with sharp talons. Tamatoa shielded himself again with a claw, and tried to kick the hawk as it flew by his limbs. Maui landed atop one of his legs, turning back to his regular form and hooking his weapon around the limb. "This is for killing **_my people,_** you _beast!"_ He snarled as he wrenched the hook through his leg, taking half of it clean off.

 _"AGH!"_ Tamatoa cried out in pain, stumbling due to the shift of balance and having to drive his left claw into the ground to stop himself from falling. His vision blurred slightly from the intense pain, but he could see Maui walking over to the survivors, helping them up and leaving with them.

Tamatoa wanted to call out to his friend, wanted to say _something,_ _anything,_ but just… couldn't.

Just like that, everything fell apart. Tamatoa didn't eat that night. He wasn't normally one to discard free food, but for some reason, staring at the corpses in his cave made him lose his appetite.

He didn't move that night, either. Just cradled his injury and stared aimlessly at nothing as Maui's words repeated over and over in his head.

 _What did I do wrong…?_

 _What was I_ _ **supposed**_ _to do…?_

 _… Is this what I get for not conforming to Lalotai's ways?_

 _It must be._

 _I was a fool. Of course this couldn't work. I should have known better._

 _I can't believe I actually thought a monster could be friends with… That_ _we_ _were…_

 _…_

 _I'm not enough._

 _I need to be more._

 _I need more._

 _My treasures can't leave me, after all. I just need…_

 _something more._


	19. LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE'S BECOMING A TSUNDERE

Clouds shrouded the sky that night, blocking out the moon and letting Tamatoa's bioluminescence glow to its full glory. It's a shame that Maui and Moana were asleep and didn't get to see it. They had passed out soon after the story of his past with the demigod.

The crustacean watched the pair contently as they slept. This was the first night that they had trusted him enough to both fall asleep in his presence. He couldn't explain it, but that touched him somehow.

Funny. It seemed like only yesterday that Tamatoa was ready to rip these two apart and yet, here they were. Sleeping soundly beside the crab, not one violent thought going through his mind as he watched them.

Tamatoa felt a drop of rain fall on his head, then another, and another.

Oh, great. Of course the weather chooses _this_ night to be a prick.

He sighed, looking over Moana and Maui carefully, and a thought crossed his mind.

... No, that would be too much...

... But he didn't want them to wake up.

Not because was starting to _care_ about them, of course. He just didn't want to have to deal with their annoying chatter if they _did_ stir.  
Yeah, that was it.

Quietly, the crustacean crept over to the pair. With incredible gentleness, the crab lifted the two beings with one claw as he laid down, then laid them down against his body so that his shell would shield them from the rain. He looked over them once more, feeling their steady breathing through his skin. It was... comforting, for some reason.

Okay, he couldn't let them wake up like this. Obviously, all he was trying to do was keep the water off of them so they didn't wake up and bother him with their mindless chatter, but he was sure they'd take it the wrong way.

Simple. He just had to wake up before them, then put them back as they were. No problem; he didn't sleep as much as they did anyways, so he was sure he could rise before they did.

He laid his head down on his right claw, taking one more moment to stare at the pair.

... Was he really doing this again? The "friend" thing? It had been such a terrifying concept to him after Maui... He had grown to hate the demigod so much for what he had done to him, after all. Could he really leave all that behind?

... A small part of him still feared Maui too, though he wished he could say otherwise.

Naturally, he had his concerns about how this would go... It's not like he NEEDED these two for much longer anyways; he could take care of himself after he healed. He _always_ took care of himself. He didn't need to think about anyone else. Why take the risk of betrayal?

... What if he messed everything up again?

...

Slowly and carefully, he brushed some of Moana's hair out of her face with his left claw before putting it down next to them.

... Yes. He could do this. He could care about someone other than himself again. He... cared about them. He didn't know how.

But how doesn't matter at this point.

The point is that he cared.

Closing his eyes, he too drifted off to sleep.


	20. Maui's Ruined The Phrase You're Welcome

The rising sun brought with it a pleasantly warm breeze, the wind scented with the mist of the sea.

Tamatoa awoke slowly, blinking a few times until his vision adjusted to the light. _Hmm… Morning already. I'd better move those two before they wake up._ He glanced over to the pair that had been sleeping on him, but his eyes widened with horror when he saw that they were already awake and looking at him. _Oh_ _ **Gods.**_

"Well, well, well." Maui said with a smirk, arms folded behind his head as he leaned against the crustacean. "Looks like someone's already warming up to us."

The crab got to his feet immediately, stepping away from Moana and Maui. "N-No, you've got it all wrong! I just—It was raining, and—I didn't—"

"Uh-huh, suuuuuure, crab cake." He teased, leaning on his hook now. "You _totally_ have a soft spot for us."

Tamatoa buried his face in his claws, screaming internally at himself for not waking up sooner while muttering garbled gibberish out of embarrassment. He almost preferred being with that blade-tailed monster over this. How humiliating.

Moana lightly nudged the demigod, smiling slightly. "Hey now, don't embarrass the poor guy." She then smiled kindly at the decapod. "It was very nice of you to shield us from the rain, Tama. Thank you."

"Tama ** _toa_**." He snapped, peeking out from behind his claws. "And I only did it because I didn't want you waking up and _bothering_ me, that's all!"

"Mmhm. I know." She grinned, agreeing with the crab only to make him feel better.

That afternoon, Maui had gone off to check up on Moana's people while Moana stayed with Tamatoa. She had taken some time to look over his wounds and see how they were healing; they seemed to be getting better, slowly but surely, though Moana could tell it probably wouldn't be a good idea to remove the splints yet.

The pair lay quietly in the sand, looking across the water. Moana glanced at the crustacean, an idea forming in her head, but she wasn't quite sure how to word it.

Tamatoa returned her glance, curious. "… What?"

"… I think… I think we should tackle your fear of water." She replied carefully.

The creature narrowed his eyes, and Moana quickly corrected herself. "Sorry, fear of _drowning."_ She looked over to the ocean again. "It's just… If you're thinking of staying on the surface, you'll need to go into the ocean to get your food, and—"

"Whoever said I was considering staying on the surface?" Tamatoa interrupted, raising his head slightly.

Moana raised an eyebrow. "Well, you never answered my question as to whether you prefer up here or Lalotai. That's got to mean you're torn between which place you like better. Am I wrong?"

"… Tch." The crustacean looked away, not arguing her point, but not validating it either.

Moana frowned slightly as she tried to figure out a way to get him to face his fear. "… Not only that, but Maui will start getting suspicious if you keep getting better but don't go hunting for fish." She didn't like having to play on his pride, but she felt it was important for him to try and get over this.

Tamatoa stayed quiet, eyes focused on the water. "… I… don't think I can do it." He said quietly.

"Not with _that_ attitude!" Moana piped up, jumping to her feet. "C'mon, where has all that confidence you once had disappeared to?"

Tamatoa blinked, confused by her sudden enthusiasm. "… Uh…" He glanced once more at the water, a twinge of fear flickering inside of him as he considered his options.

Moana walked over to the crab's side, voice gentler now. "I'll stay by you the whole time. You'll be safe, I promise. We'll take baby steps."

He was quiet for a moment more before taking in a deep breath. "… Okay."

They took it slow at first, Tamatoa seeming alright for the first few steps into the water. Moana stayed beside him, carried by the ocean to match his height. It was when the water started to reach his abdomen that Tamatoa began to hesitate.

"You're doing great." Moana reassured him after noticing his hesitation, keeping her voice at a soft and supportive tone. "Do you think you could take a couple more steps…?"

The crab took a moment to think it over. He was placing an irrational amount of faith in this little human to keep him afloat, after all, but…

Taking a quick breath, he nodded, then took a few more steps forward. Heart racing, he did everything in his power not to flinch when his body started to submerge.

"There we go. That's not so bad, right?" Moana said with a smile.

Well, she wasn't wrong. Tamatoa might have actually enjoyed how the water felt if he wasn't currently so anxious. He started to take another step, but tripped on a rocky part of the seafloor. He would have gone under had Moana not reacted so quickly, making the sea dip down so that his head remained above water.

The crustacean was trembling at this point, his panic immediately replaced with relief when he realized he hadn't fallen in. Moana was right; he was safe in her hands.

"Are you okay?" Her voice shook him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see a very worried-looking Moana staring back at him. "We can go back if you want—"

" _No._ " He growled, determined now to not back down. He hated the idea that he was letting his fear control him like this, and he was _not_ planning on letting that continue. "I'm… fine. Let's keep going."

"… Okay, if you're sure." She agreed, and they slowly continued on their way.

By the time the water had reached the crustacean's neck, he hesitated again. Moana looked over to him, impressed that he made it this far. "You've been doing really well, Tamatoa. We can probably call it a day and—"

"I want to go underwater." He said suddenly, catching Moana off guard.

Moana blinked, surprised. Looking at the crab, she could tell he was serious about this. But also very nervous. "Are… you sure…?" She questioned, to which Tamatoa gave a small nod.

"… Okay." Moana said, letting the ocean take her a bit deeper into the water. "Crabs can hold their breath for a long time," She continued in another attempt to reassure him, "but, of course, we don't need to stay under for long! And I think you'll find the view from underwater to be really beautiful, and—"

The crab held a pincer over her mouth to shut her up. "I get it, babe. Th' water's the best thing ever and all. Save the sales pitch and let's get on with it." Admittedly, her constant reassurance _did_ make him feel a little better. With one deep breath, the crab went beneath the water, Moana following suit.

Once again, the girl was right. Seeing everything beneath the water was spectacular. He especially liked the way the rays of sunlight rippled through the waves, and how it illuminated every decoration of the sea floor. Unfortunately he didn't last for more than a few seconds before feeling the need to come up for air.

"What'd you think?" Moana asked upon resurfacing, eager to hear the crab's reaction.

"Well, I _suppose_ it was pretty beautiful… Not as beautiful as _me_ , though." Tamatoa crowed in response, smiling slightly at the laugh he got out of Moana.

The pair continued going underwater in little intervals over the next few hours, so Tamatoa could gradually get used to the feeling. They had almost lost track of time, and upon realizing that Maui should be returning soon, they returned to the shore, resting in the shade whilst awaiting the demigod's arrival.

Tamatoa watched Moana quietly as she stared out to the sea, wondering how on Earth she could be so kind. He really was lucky, he realized, to get a second chance like this; not just with Maui, but a chance to know Moana as well. The crab was determined not to mess this all up again.

"… Thank you, Moana." He said finally. It's true that Tamatoa wasn't the "grateful" type, but he felt compelled to express gratitude in this case nonetheless. He wasn't even sure what he was thanking her _for_ at this point, considering how much she's done for him.

Moana flashed him a cocky grin, and in a jokingly sing-song voice, replied, "You're welcome!"


	21. Birds Are Jerks

Moana awoke the next morning to the sound of something being dropped near her. When she opened her eyes, she saw a large fish had been placed in front of her, and Tamatoa looking at her like a proud cat that just brought home a kill.

"Breakfast." He proclaimed confidently, holding up a clawful of more fish to show he had some for Maui, too. Whenever he got up, that is.

Moana immediately sat up, surprised and impressed. She glanced at Maui to make sure he was still asleep before turning back to the crab. "You went into the water yourself?"

"Of course. Piece of cake." Tamatoa answered, grinning smugly. Well, not _entirely_ a piece of cake. Going into the ocean without her was nerve-wracking at first, and he went no deeper than he needed to for the prey, but she didn't have to know any of that.

Moana grinned as well, proud of the crab. "See, the water's not so bad, is it?"

"Yeah, yeah, you were right." He chuckled with a casual eye-roll. The crustacean then walked over to the snoring demigod, Moana noticing that he seemed to be limping more than usual. The crab held his catch over Maui, then dropped the pile of fish on him. "Rise and shine!" He exclaimed as he did so. When Maui shot up with an expression of drowsiness and confusion, Tamatoa snickered jokingly, "On second thought, forget about the 'shine' part. You'd pale in comparison to _me,_ so what's the point?"

Maui raised an eyebrow, confused but also amused by the crustacean's oddly chipper attitude. "Well, looks like somebody woke up on the right side of the bed. About time."

"Pfft. At least I actually _got up."_ Tamatoa replied with a smirk. He then reached over to his back, picking up Moana's carrying pole that he had borrowed and placing down in the sand between Maui and Moana. Apparently the crab had done more than just gone fishing, as the baskets were filled with coconuts, fruits, and other varieties of foods from across the island.

No wonder he was limping so much. He must have walked much farther than he should have to get some of these.

"That's a lot of food. What's the occasion?" Maui queried, raising an eyebrow at the crab again.

Tamatoa shrugged slightly as he laid down next to the pair. "It's the least I could do, really. I should be repaying you two in a far more significant way, but at least this is a start."

Moana blinked, both her and Maui surprised at how the crab was behaving right now.

"Tama, this is very nice of you, but… you know you don't _owe_ us anything, right…?" Moana said, not wanting him to think he had some sort of debt to them.

"Hmm. If you had told me that a few weeks ago, I would've agreed with you." He figured, brushing his claw through the sand. He was quiet for a moment before continuing to speak. "… But I'd like to think I've learned a few things since then. Please, let me at least _try_ to pay you back for your kindness."

"Hmm… Okay. But on _one_ condition." Moana stated, holding her head up high. She pointed at the crab's healing side, then continued, "Don't push yourself so much. You'll just hurt yourself more."

"Heh. Okay, fine." Tamatoa agreed. "Glad we've reached a compromise."

It was after that morning that things _really_ started improving. Not only were Maui and Tamatoa getting along swimmingly (pardon the pun), but the crab was _definitely_ starting to get his cocky attitude back; though there was something different about it, now that he had people to care about. He wasn't quite so overbearing or narcissistic, and just seemed to have a more pleasant atmosphere about him all-around. Sure, he wasn't acting completely like his old self, but Moana took that as a good sign. After all, she didn't want to be considered seafood again, and the change that Tamatoa has been going through has definitely been a positive one. That much was undeniable.

On a day like any other, Moana and Maui had been cloud-watching from the sand, their weapons leaning against a tree near the edge of the beach. Tamatoa had gone a little ways into the sea to retrieve some fish, leaving them alone on the shore.

He never would have expected that choice to have been such a terrible mistake.

"Hey, that one looks a little like Pua!" Moana exclaimed, pointing to one of the fluffy clouds.

"Ha, yeah right." Maui laughed, "Looks more like Drumstick to me."

"Whaaat? They look nothing alike!" Moana giggled, nudging the demigod. "It's _definitely_ Pua!"

"Well, _that_ one definitely looks like a bird." Maui commented, gesturing to an oddly well-defined image in the sky.

"Wait a second…" Moana whispered, sitting up to get a better look. Upon realizing that the bird-like figure was no cloud, she immediately jumped to her feet. Maui quickly followed suit after noticing that the creature was flying directly at them. They started to dart towards their weapons, but were both pinned by the creature's massive talons.

"Ahh, you must be Maui…" The fowl crooned, a sly grin stretched across its beak. "I've been looking for you." The bird, clearly from Lalotai, was huge. It had to be at least half Tamatoa's size. Its feathers were brilliant white in colour, a mane of particularly long feathers framing its face. The thing tilted its head as it looked at Moana.

"You, I am unfamiliar with…" It noted, grin growing even wider. "But I'm not one to pass up an easy meal."

 _"Leave us alone!"_ Maui shouted, delivering a powerful punch to the creature's leg. It gasped in pain, caught off guard by the strong hit, but only tightened its grip and narrowed its eyes in response. "Oh, you are _asking_ to be gutted, you twerp… But first, I need something from you…"

Upon emerging from the water, the sight that greeted Tamatoa almost made his heart stop.

 _No._

 ** _No._**

With a furious growl, he shot out of the water, charging at the strange bird.

The bird squawked in alarm when it saw the crab, not expecting to see another monster here. In a panic, it held on tightly to its catches and flew off, heading towards a secluded mountain on the island. Tamatoa didn't waste a second, darting in the direction they were headed. He grabbed Moana's javelin and Maui's hook as he passed them, knowing first-hand how easily Maui could be bested without his shapeshifting powers.

What is that thing doing here? What does it want with Moana and Maui? Were they just easy targets at the time?

He couldn't let anything happen to them. He just got Maui back; he will **_not_** lose him again.

And Moana… the one that treated him with such unconditional kindness, the one who helped him despite his bitterness towards her, the one who _gave_ him his second chance…

A rush of anger shot through the decapod at the thought of this creature hurting them. Eyes locked on the rocky mountain where the thing landed, Tamatoa picked up the pace, the surge of adrenaline letting him ignore the searing pain of his wounds.

 _If that damned bird has done_ _anything_ _to either of them, it's_ _ **dead.**_


	22. COME HEAVY OR DON'T COME AT ALL AMIRITE

The bird landed on a barren plateau of one of the mountains that almost resembled a crater, several rock structures protruding from the ground. It dropped Moana and Maui carelessly to the ground, then pinned them to a rock before they could recover.

"It truly is a pleasure to meet the one who successfully stole Te Fiti's Heart…" The creature purred, running a claw through the demigod's hair.

Maui growled, pulling his head away defiantly. "What do you want?"

"Oh, I thought you would never ask!" It chirped mockingly, grinning coldly at the shapeshifter. "What I would _really_ like is the Heart, but rumour has it that you went and put it back." With an idle twitch of its wings, the bird tilted its head. "But truth be told, I've been sent here for your hook. Where is it?"

"Ha." The demigod laughed bitterly. "You're wasting your time, birdbrain."

"Oh am I, now?" The winged monster tweeted, then turning its attention to Moana, who recoiled slightly in response. "Tell me, demigod, is your dear fish hook worth more than this human's life?"

 _"Don't touch her!"_ He spat, kicking the creature's leg with extreme force.

The bird hissed, releasing Maui out of shock. Maui reacted immediately, jumping at the bird and punching it in the chest. It stumbled back, stunned for a moment, but was quick to retaliate.

 _"Enough of this!"_ The creature roared, snatching the demigod by his hair and slamming him into the ground.

"Maui!" Moana shouted. She narrowed her eyes and started hitting the bird's claw as hard as she could, but unfortunately couldn't do any harm.

The creature returned its attention to Moana, a chilling smile plastered on its face. "Adorable." It commented, amused by her attempt to hinder it. Holding Maui down so he couldn't interfere, it started moving one of its talons towards Moana's neck to finish her off.

Before it could cut into her skin, a giant angry crab burst into the clearing, barreling into the bird with all his might.

The creature went flying backwards, slamming into one of the large rocks.

Standing firm against the stone wall his friends had been pinned against, Tamatoa hovered over Moana and Maui protectively, holding his claws in front of them like a shield. His narrowed eyes were completely focused on their attacker.

The bird shakily stood up, dazed from the blow. When it got a hold of itself, its eyes widened in surprise upon recognizing the crab. "My my, if it isn't the selfish shellfish Tamatoa! So _this_ is where you've disappeared to!" Smug smile returning to its face, it continued, "You left Lalotai for these soft, squishy humans? Better smarten up before you _become_ one of 'em."

 _"Touch them again and I'll make you_ _ **wish**_ _you were fighting a 'soft, squishy human'."_ Tamatoa snarled, the sheer hostility in his voice almost intimidating enough to make up for his obvious injuries. _"Now get out of my sight before I_ _ **flay you,**_ _Nafiira."_

Moana glanced up in confusion as she helped Maui to his feet. "You two know each other?"

"How could _anyone_ not know of the great and wonderful Tamatoa?" The bird crooned somewhat sarcastically, though it still seemed visibly uneasy due to the crustacean's presence.

"I'd hardly say we _know_ each other," Tamatoa answered with a low growl. "She's infamous for sticking her beak where it doesn't _belong_ , and has crossed my path one too many times."

"Aww, you hurt me with your cruel words, big guy." The bird, apparently female, sang with feigned sadness. Nafiira cocked her head to the side as she eyed the two people beneath the crab. "So what's all _this_ about? Never thought I'd see you coming to the aid of _these_ things." She lifted her gaze to make eye contact with the crustacean, smiling coldly. "Especially that little demigod that ripped off your leg."

Tamatoa narrowed his eyes, obviously annoyed, but saying nothing.

"I'm no fool." She continued, her eyes glimmering with amusement. "He comes down to Lalotai every other week to see you, but suddenly stops one day after your leg mysteriously vanished?" A quiet snicker. "I can put two and two together. So why, then, would you be _defending_ the little man, hmm? Did you not learn your lesson the _first_ time? Waiting until he rips off one of your claws next?" The bird laughed coldly when she saw him twitch, knowing that she was getting under his skin and amused by how reluctant he was to leave the humans unsheltered to attack her. Knowing she had the upper hand, Nafiira started to pace from side to side, holding eye contact. "And how about that little girl? Seems like the kind of thing you'd use as a _toothpick_ , isn't she?" A flicker of delight glittered in her eyes. "What, are they your _friends?"_ Another laugh. "You foolish, foolish crab. And here we all thought you'd smartened up after the leg thing. Oh, well; once a stupid bottom-feeder, always a stupid bottom-feeder."

It was at that point that the crab lost his patience, lunging at the bird with a furious snarl, but dropping Maui's hook and Moana's javelin in the process. Though she probably should have anticipated that kind of a reaction, she still let out an alarmed squawk as she rolled to the side to avoid his snapping claws. The falling weapons caught the bird's eye, and she chirped cheerfully. "Would you look at that! You were kind enough to bring me the hook!"

Nafiira started to go for the hook, but her tail was grabbed by Tamatoa and he threw her into a boulder, delivering merciless, repetitive blows to the creature with his claws. She chittered in pain and frustration, striking back with her wings and talons. She made a point of aiming her attacks to his injured side, wrecking a good portion of his splints.

Moana tried to go for their weapons, but was pulled back by Maui just in time to avoid being crushed as the bird shoved Tamatoa back. Moana exchanged glances with the demigod, knowing that they'd have to both stay back until there was a safe opening.

Nafiira flew up into the air to avoid an oncoming strike of Tamatoa's claws. A bright shimmer overtook her feathers, and with a flap of her wings, a flurry of razor-sharp feathers shot down at the decapod. He quickly shrank beneath his shell, the items on his back absorbing most of the force of the hits. The bird circled around, preparing to strike again, but Tamatoa responded by angling his shell towards her. The sunlight reflecting off his treasures blinded Nafiira for a moment, causing her to crash into a pillar of rock. Unfortunately, her resilience allowed her to recover quickly; not only that, but she got an idea.

As Tamatoa started to move in for another attack, Nafiira swooped over to the opposite side of the pillar, striking it with her wing; her target was not Tamatoa, however, but the human and demigod that had been lying in wait.

Tamatoa's eyes widened as the pillar started to fall in their direction, and he immediately darted over them, catching the structure with his back. Unfortunately, this forced him to remain still, or else the pillar would crush both himself _and_ his friends. Nafiira chuckled darkly, pleased at how her plan worked out. She sauntered over to the crab, attention completely on him. Moana and Maui nodded at each other, taking the opportunity to sneak over to their weapons while the beast was distracted. Tamatoa could see them from out of the corner of his eye, but dared not tip Nafiira off by glancing at them. He instead held her gaze firmly.

"Stupid, stupid crab…" She sang, all too pleased with herself for the scene she's created. "Don't you see? The irrational value you hold in those silly creatures only hinders you in the end." She lightly ran a talon across Tamatoa's neck, earning a sharp growl from the decapod. Nafiira only grinned in response, leaning her face in closer to his. "You may be able to make yourself shine brilliantly on the outside, but on the inside, you're still the same foolish, worthless bottom-feeder you've always bee—"

She immediately stopped talking when the crab latched his claw around her neck. "Go ahead." He hissed coldly, daring her to continue. "Finish that thought. See what happens."

She was completely still, narrowing her eyes at the crustacean. "You're making a mistake," She hissed back, trying to supress the fear in her voice.

Tamatoa smiled bitterly as he tightened his grip. "Oh, am I?"

Nafiira coughed due to the choke hold, then narrowed her eyes. "Believe me, you'll only worsen your situation if you kill me. It'll get on their bad side." Her fear was apparent now, but her words seemed truthful in some way. "I have allies in _high places._ "

The crustacean narrowed his eyes, considering her words for a moment, then smiled once more. _"So do I."_

As he said that, the screech of a hawk sounded from above. Tamatoa shoved Nafiira back, throwing her directly in Maui's path. The demigod flew down and changed form, striking the bird with his hook to knock her down. As she struggled to recover from the blow, Moana and Maui worked together to force the pillar off of Tamatoa's back, the rock structure falling harmlessly to the ground.

Nafiira rose with an angry snarl, her wings taking on a full-on glow. She shot another flurry of blade-like feathers at the group; Moana spun her javelin in front of her at an impressive speed, shielding herself from most of the attack. Maui shapeshifted into an armadillo, rolling into a tight ball to avoid harm, and Tamatoa deflected whatever he could with his claws.

"You think you're going to get the best of me?!" Nafiira hissed, already prepared to launch another feathered bombardment. "You have seen **_nothing_** yet!"

Knowing that they wouldn't be able to take many more of those attacks, the crab picked Maui and Moana up and placed them on his back before darting past the bird, striking her with a claw as he passed to daze her long enough for them to get away.

"You haven't seen the last of us!" She called after them as she struggled back to her feet. "We're not _done_ with you yet!"

Tamatoa ran like the wind, completely disregarding any protest from his wounds. He couldn't let Maui and Moana get hurt, he couldn't lose them, he couldn't-

"Tamatoa, she's not chasing us!" Maui called, struggling to hold on, but the crustacean didn't seem to register his words. He just pressed on.

"Stop, Tamatoa!" Moana shouted, clearly seeing that something was wrong. When he still didn't respond, she grew louder. **_"_** ** _STOP!_** ** _"_**

Finally catching the creature's attention, they came to a halt on the middle of a grove of trees. He didn't look back at them, just stood there; but he couldn't seem to stay still for long, as he resorted to restlessly pacing back and forth after a few seconds.

Maui and Moana exchanged concerned glances, and Moana moved a little closer to the crab's head, sitting on the edge of his shell. "Hey, we all got out of there in one piece, didn't we…? What's wrong…?"

He didn't know. He couldn't define what he was feeling right now. Everything going through his head was just a _mess_.

 _"I am_ _not_ _a worthless bottom-feeder,"_ was all the crab managed to growl at the time. He wasn't even sure if that was the _problem_.

"We know that." Moana said softly. Maui had seated himself next to her at this point, agreeing.

Tamatoa shook his head, continuing to pace.

"Please stop, Tama… Your legs…" Moana whispered, worried about the new damage inflicted by the bird.

The crustacean bit back the urge to correct her nickname, hesitantly complying with her request and going still. He still pointedly avoided looking at either of them.

"Buddy. Talk to us." Maui urged, concerned. They were finally getting somewhere in improving the decapod's attitude; both he and Moana hoped that Tamatoa would be more willing to open up to them after all the time they've spent together. "Please."

The crab hesitated, not sure what to say. How could he know what to tell them when he couldn't even comprehend his own thoughts? With a shaky sigh, he laid down, not noticing how tired he was until now. "… I…" He tried to talk, but the words seemed to hitch in his throat.

Taking a deep breath, he whispered, "You… you two are the only ones that have _ever_ made me feel… _wanted._ " He started to break down, voice barely audible as he struggled to string together his next sentence. "I can't- I'm not ready to _lose_ that…!"

 _Oh Gods, am I_ _crying?_

"Oh, Tama…" Moana sighed, giving the crab a light hug.

"Don't worry crab cake, we're not going anywhere." Maui said with a reassuring smile. His next sentence was spoken in a lighthearted, cocky manner. "We're too _awesome_."

Maui got a weak laugh out of the crab, but he then stuck his face behind his claws when he remembered he was freakin' _crying._

"Oh Gods, I really _am_ going soft…" He muttered annoyedly. Moana laughed quietly under her breath, shaking her head. "Having feelings isn't a _bad_ thing, you know." She told him. "And hey, I cry all the time, and **_I'm_** still awesome!"

"Pfft." The crab chuckled, turning one eye towards her. "I… suppose I can't argue with that. Still feels disgusting, though. Don't know how you do it."

The three of them shared a quick laugh, all of them relieved that their struggle today was finally behind them.

They didn't bother going all the way back to the beach that night, just sleeping within the tree grove they stopped at. Tamatoa stayed awake, however. He couldn't get Nafiira's words out of his head, couldn't shake the feeling of being _watched._ Perhaps this was her plan all along, to simply plant seeds of paranoia, but…

…

Tamatoa shifted his claw slightly, careful not to disturb the pair sleeping against him. Glancing at the two of them, he wondered what Nafiira was hoping to _gain_ from all this.

It just… didn't make sense.


	23. Decisions Are Hard

The morning breeze seemed cold, but maybe that was just Tamatoa's imagination. Moana was the first to stir, unsurprisingly, and was not expecting to see the crustacean still awake.

"Have you been up all night…?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Mm-hm." He answered idly. He seemed focused on watching their surroundings, but he cast her a quick side glance regardless. "You two had better not make a habit out of sleeping on me."

"Hey, you started it." Moana replied with a playful smirk, getting a quick eye-roll out of the crab before she continued. "But back to the point. I'm pretty sure monsters need sleep, too." Geez, she was starting to sound like a mom.

"You worry waaay too much, babe." Tamatoa commented, eyes on her again.

Seeing through him with ease, Moana was quick to reply. "Says the one who stayed up all night on the lookout for monsters." She then raised an eyebrow. "You're worried about what that bird said, aren't you?"

He said nothing in response, which was honestly just as telling an answer as if he had actually spoke.

Frowning slightly, Moana kept talking. "Look, even if she was telling the truth…? Whatever they have coming at us, we'll need to be ready. And in good condition. Which means well-rested." She gave him another small smirk at that last part.

Tamatoa didn't look amused at first, but then glanced at the sleeping demigod with a sly grin and replied, "Well, at least _one_ of us is all set in the 'well-rested' department." Shaking his head, he snickered at the man teasingly, knowing he wasn't conscious to hear it, "Honestly, Maui, whatever happened to all that 'wayfinders never sleep' talk?"

"Ha, I know right?" Moana chuckled, deciding to accept the subtle subject change. They both knew Maui was an excellent wayfinder, but he did seem to enjoy sleeping in when he got the chance. At least it gave the pair a way to lighten the mood a bit.

The following days seemed peaceful enough; no signs of any monsters on the surface again, at least. Whether or not that was good or bad was still up in the air. On one hand, they could conclude that Nafiira's threats were indeed a bluff, but on the other, it could be possible that they were waiting and planning for an opportune time to strike. Monsters weren't particularly meticulous by nature, especially when it came to working together, which is what Nafiira seemed to suggest they were doing… Monsters in Lalotai only formed temporary truces if all parties involved had something big to gain from it, after all, but… something seemed off about this. Though that didn't stop the trio from letting themselves relax. To an extent, anyways...

"Aaand done!" Moana proclaimed. She had just removed the last splint from Tamatoa's limbs; with the ocean's help, of course. "That bird might have slowed the process, but you're finally well enough to walk without these! Don't go thinking of this as a pass to strut around carelessly, though! You still have a little more healing to do!" She added with a wink.

"Heh, I'll keep that in mind, babe. Thanks." Tamatoa replied. For some reason, he didn't feel as happy as he thought he would be about how much better he was getting. It bothered him that he couldn't figure out why.

... Could it be because it might mean his time here would have to come to an end...?

A hawk flew to the shore moments later, shapeshifting to his regular form as he landed. "Hey, Moana? Your people are starting to miss you, you know. You should probably send them another letter so they can hear from you."

Slapping her forehead, she responded, "Oh geez, you're probably right… I'll go to the village and write something up!" With that, she was off.

Maui and Tamatoa shared small talk in her absence, Maui describing Moana's family to him in more detail; he'd only ever heard about them just a little bit from Moana and Maui's Heart of Te Fiti story, after all, so a little more description was always welcome. They fell quiet for a while when they ran out of things to discuss.

Tamatoa frowned slightly, a strange thought crossing his mind. "… Hey Maui, do you think…" He began, but trailed off, not sure if he would like how the demigod would respond to his question.

"Yeah?" Maui said, raising an eyebrow curiously.

Oh, well. Too late now. "… Do you think I should go back to Lalotai after all this?" The crab finished.

Maui blinked, full attention on the crustacean now. "What do you mean? That's your choice to make."

"Is it?" Tamatoa queried, turning an eye towards the demigod. "At the end of the day, I'm still a monster. I belong in Lalotai, don't I?" Oops. That wasn't worded as carefully as it should've been, considering their history.

Maui frowned, not sure if the crab was trying to take a stab at him by bringing up past arguments or not. He assumed not, but… "Well, not… not necessarily." The shapeshifter answered. "I mean, you're not hurting anyone up here."

… True.

But…

Lalotai's where he's _supposed_ to be, isn't it…?

… But there's nothing left for him down there. His reputation is ruined, as is his lair… If he was being honest with himself, he had more to live for up here than he did down there…

"… Well, you think on it, crab cake." Maui said with a casual grin after the decapod's sudden silence. "I'm sure we'll get the specifics figured out later."

… Maui was probably right. It's not an overly pressing issue right now.

He'd have to think about it more. Consider his… options.


	24. I Wonder If Maui Gave Me PTSD

When Maui informed Moana about how the crab was giving thought as to whether he'd stay or not, it was no surprise that she claimed to support whichever decision he made.

 _Do they really think this is okay?_

 _Am I the only one considering the possible repercussions, here?_

 _… That seems backwards._

 _But still._

Ugh. This decision shouldn't be as hard as it is. There's literally only two options, why can't he make up his mind? Why was this eating at him so much these days? It's such a damn simple question. Surface or Lalotai?

 _If I stay on the surface, it'll look like I'm dependant on them. Gross. I don't need to depend on anybody but myself._

 _… But I do enjoy their company. Hnng._

 _And if I go back to Lalotai, I have to go back to that extremely damaged reputation. Also gross._

 _Buuut I'm still one of the most powerful monsters down there. Reputations can easily be rebuilt if I've got the strength to do so. Also there's way more treasure down there._

 _… But in hindsight, it's... lonely there…_

 _Eugh. Why am I even thinking about all this when Nafiira could attack at any time? Don't you have more important things to worry about, Tamatoa?_

With an irritated sigh, the crustacean plopped his head into the sand. This is annoying. Caring about other people is annoying. Fuck this shit.

"Uhh… You okay over there?" Maui called from the edge of the beach with his hook slung over his shoulder. Moana stood next to him, also looking concerned.

Tamatoa slackly waved a claw at them as a yes, not looking up.

"Welllll, we were going to head up to the village for some supplies. Wanna come?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ehhh… No thanks." The crab answered with little to no enthusiasm. "I'm perfectly happy beneath my tree." _Screaming at myself,_ he added silently. "You won't let your hook out of your sight, right?"

"Eh. Suit yourself." Maui said with a shrug. "And don't worry, crab cake. Moana and I are ready for anything." With that, he headed up the village path.

"We'll be back soon!" Moana assured Tamatoa before chasing after the demigod.

 _That settles that, then…_ He figured, shuffling in the sand a bit to get comfortable before laying back down. _Might as well get some shut-eye while they're gone._

But the nap didn't last long. The crab awoke to the sound of something arriving on the beach shore. Several somethings. And shouting?

Tamatoa shot up immediately, claws snapping as he expected an onslaught of monsters. What he saw instead was somehow much more terrifying, and he froze up as the terror struck him.

 _Boats._

 _Humans._

 _Moana's_ _humans._

There was a lot of them. Two large boatfuls. Chief Tui was among them; the man seemed to recognize the crab from the Heart story that Moana told, and he looked furious.

 _Nononono, this can't be happening again…!_ Tamatoa turned to run, but only to see that he had already been heavily surrounded by armed humans. Trying to step over them would run the risk of crushing them by mistake. He was stuck.

"Where is my daughter?! _What have you done to her?!"_ Tui shouted, brandishing a spear at the monster crab.

The crustacean couldn't respond. All at once, everything was overwhelming his mind. The flashbacks were the worst part. Not knowing how to process everything going on, the crab started to break down, covering his face with his claws as he cowered in the sand. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…!" The rushed apologies were barely audible through his panicked breathing.

A few of the humans started launching weapons at Tamatoa, dead set on making the monster pay for whatever he's done to their Moana. The crab made no attempt to deflect the attacks, staying unmoving where he was aside from the uncontrollable trembling. He couldn't do this again. He dreaded the thought of how Moana and Maui would react if he retaliated.

 _They're going to hate me, they're going to kill me, I can't do this—_

 _"Stop! Stop it!"_ Moana shouted, running down to the scene as fast as she could. Maui beat her there, flying in front of Tamatoa as a hawk, then shapeshifting back to his humanesque form as he deflected some oncoming spears.

Tamatoa, panicking at the flash of blue, shrank back fearfully. "I-I-I d-didn't touch t-them, I s-swear—!" He would have been more annoyed at his own stuttering if he could process his own thoughts at the moment.

Maui, realizing the crab was thinking back on what happened with those other humans, immediately dropped the hook. "Hey, hey, it's okay…! I know you didn't!" As he tried to reassure the mess of a crustacean, Moana quickly ran to the pair's side.

"Moana…! You're okay!" Tui exclaimed, eyes widening in surprise and relief upon seeing her.

"Uh, _yes?_ I've been sending you messages, haven't I?!" She bit her tongue, realizing she probably shouldn't be sounding so hostile; she was the one who didn't tell them about having Tamatoa with them in the first place, so this was partially her fault. "Sorry, Dad… It's just…" Moana glanced at the crustacean worriedly. "Well, I have a _lot_ to fill you in on…"


	25. Awkwardness, But This Time It Tenfolds

Chief Tui had never believed in such things as magic and monsters before Moana's travels with the Heart of Te Fiti. To stand face to face with a creature of Lalotai, let alone one that tried to _eat his daughter,_ was a lot to take in. But he managed to keep a stoic-looking exterior. Perhaps a bit hostile-looking, even, but that was to be expected.

The rest of the people (about forty had come down to visit) had gone up to their old village to prepare it for their stay, though they were reluctant about it. Moana assured them with full confidence that the crab was completely safe now, but they were… skeptical, to say the least. The only reason they were willing to leave Tui, Sina, and Moana with the creature was because Maui was present.

It took Tamatoa longer than he'd like to admit to fully calm down. Now that he had, however, he had been keeping his eyes on Moana's parents with a monotone, calculative gaze, not sure what to think of them. They were a teensy bit drab-looking, in his opinion, but this was probably not a good time to say so out loud. Moana had just explained to them everything that's gone on since she and Maui took him in, after all, and they seemed to be mulling everything over. Moana was studying her parents' reactions warily, and Maui stood off to the side, leaning on his hook as he watched things unfold. Sina looked more worried and uncertain than anything, but Tui's gaze remained stern and cold as he watched the crustacean.

Awkward silences are appearing to become a trend.

"… So, uh, you heard me when I said he saved our lives, right?" Moana said, mostly worried about her dad's opinion on all this. Tui nodded, but his expression didn't change, and he kept his gaze firmly on the crab.

"I also heard you when you told me he tried to _eat you._ " Tui may not have believed in monsters before, but he did not like the sounds of them. Especially this one.

"Well hey," Moana continued, "Maui also trapped me in a cave, but everybody likes _him_ fine."

… Fair point, he supposed. Maui also cursed the world, but that's not exactly something they're hanging over _his_ head.

This is different, though. Maui redeemed himself, Maui taught Moana so much, Maui is a demigod that's devoted his life to the human race, Maui is _basically_ human. This is some… _giant monster crab_ that tried to _eat his_ _daughter._

"Dad," Moana said, voice taking on a surprisingly austere tone. "You _know_ that I've grown. You _know_ I have good judgment."

"You are also impulsive, stubborn, and _overly_ trusting." Tui retorted, pointedly glaring at the crab at that last part. Tamatoa didn't seem to care; his attention was currently being held by the tattoos on the chief's arm. _Not bad. But Maui's are better._ He commented to himself, purposely distracting himself from the man's gaze.

"Dad- No, _chief."_ The change of title immediately caught Tui's attention again. "Listen to me not as your daughter, but as your second-in-command." Moana held an air of professionalism and confidence about her as she spoke. "I've survived for many weeks with Tamatoa around. Isn't that proof enough that he's not a threat to my safety? To _everyone's_ safety?" She raised an eyebrow slightly. "I trust him." Now that really struck a chord in Tamatoa. What a surprisingly nice feeling, to be trusted…

"I trust him, and you trust me." Moana went on. "So please, have a little faith that I know what I'm doing."

If door-to-door salesmen existed in this time, Moana would probably be a pretty good one. She could be very persuasive if she wanted to be.

Tui didn't trust Tamatoa, that much was for sure. But he _did_ trust Moana. "… Fine. I hope you know what you're doing." He cast one last dark glare at the crustacean, but his gaze softened when he came closer to Moana. "Come see us at the village when you're done down here. Everyone's missed you." With that, he headed off to help the other villagers, but not before giving his child a quick hug.

"Real charming fellow, that one." Tamatoa commented jokingly after the man was out of earshot. "Lovely first impression."

"Pfft, like _you're_ one to talk!" Moana joshed back, lightly nudging his leg.

"I don't need _social skills!_ Haven't we been over this?" He scoffed in response, posing jocularly as he flashed a cocky grin and winked. "What I lack in personality I make up for in _stunning beauty!_ "

Their little exchange earned a tiny laugh from Sina, who had been so quiet beforehand that Tamatoa had almost forgotten that she was even there. The woman cautiously walked nearer to her daughter, watching the crustacean with a wary gaze, but her eyes were much softer and kinder than Tui's nonetheless. Moana took after her mother that way, Tamatoa noted.

"So you're… _sure_ he's safe…?" Sina asked carefully.

With a reassuring grin, Moana leaned casually against one of the creature's legs and answered, "Absolutely positive."

When Sina glanced at Maui for a second opinion, he gave her a confident thumbs-up.

Trying to keep an open mind, the woman nodded slowly. "Al… Alright…" Glancing at Tamatoa again, she continued, "It's, um… nice to meet you…?"

Tamatoa looked her up and down, unsure if she meant that or not. Normally he'd respond with something along the lines of _Of course it's nice to meet me! You're so lucky to have the honour of knowing someone as wonderful as I!_ or something like that, buuut he figured it wouldn't be a good idea to get that cheeky with these ones. Yet, anyways. Instead, he tried to muster a non-threatening smile and replied, "Likewise, ba-" The crustacean stopped talking when Moana elbowed his leg and gave him a look that seemed to say _For the love of Te Fiti,_ _ **do not**_ _call my mom 'babe'._

"Ah… Likewise, Sina." He finished, correcting himself immediately. 

"So Mom, did you all have any difficulty getting here?" Moana asked in an attempt to encourage a more casual atmosphere. "It's the first time anyone's sailed without me or Maui around, after all."

"Well, we're faster learners than you may think, my little minnow." Sina answered smoothly. She smiled proudly as she continued. "But we _do_ have some pretty spectacular teachers." Glancing at the village path, she raised an eyebrow. "Should we…?"

"Oh, yes!" Moana exclaimed, realizing everyone was probably waiting on her. Her eyes lit up when she thought of catching up with them. Turning to Tamatoa and Maui, she said, "You two should probably stay here until I make sure everyone hears about what's going on with Tamatoa. I'll be back as soon as possible with an update!" With that, she and her mother made her way to the village, Moana waving at them as she went out of their view.

Leaning over to Maui after the girls were out of earshot, Tamatoa said, "How much you wanna bet that this is going to end _disastrously?"_

"Pff. Everything'll be fine, crab cake." Maui responded, giving the crab a confident smirk.

"Well, if you're so _sure_ of that…" Tamatoa went on, smirking back, "Then you have nothing to lose with a little gamble, eh?" He was joking, of course, and he knew Maui was aware of that.

"Tell ya what…" Maui replied jokingly, humouring the crab, "I'll bet my very own fish hook that things will be fine."

"Oooo, _very_ confident." Tamatoa crooned, laughing quietly under his breath. "It's a bet."

Though the two of them knew they weren't being serious with each other, they _were_ both curious as to how this would play out. Maui and Moana had come to assume that Nafiira was bluffing when she said 'they weren't done with them yet', as no sign of an attack seemed to be coming from her end. Tamatoa wasn't so certain, and questioned the idea of having several puny little humans around while they were at a possible risk. But even if they were to be attacked, Maui had confidence in their ability to handle it.

"You know what, crab cake?" Maui said out loud, folding his arms. "Even if trouble _does_ come for us? We can take care of it. 'Cause we're strong, you, me, and Moana. We can take on anything."

Hmm. Tamatoa's heard _that_ one before.

… No, he shouldn't think like that. He should have some faith in his friend, not be thinking about all the negatives.

"… If you say so, Maui."


	26. Why You Gotta Be So Serious Tui

The reactions from the people were mixed, which is honestly much better than Tamatoa and Maui had expected. Most of the villagers were more like Tui, skeptically mistrusting of the crab, but there were a surprising amount of people that were willing to give him a chance.

Tamatoa stayed off to the edge of the village that night, simply observing as the inhabitants did their dances and had their conversations. He didn't keep his distance so much for _their_ comfort, but for his own. Moana being the only exception so far, Tamatoa still did **_not_** like humans and wanted to keep his distance for right now.

Unfortunately, some of the braver village kids had become curious about the crustacean and had began climbing all over him. _And just when I thought humans couldn't get any smaller._ Tamatoa, though mildly irritated, ignored them for the most part, and only moved them if they were getting too close to his treasures. The crab was particularly gentle with them despite how frustrating they were, as he _certainly_ didn't want to be accused of "attacking" the human offspring.

"Are you really from Lalotai?" One would ask.

"Obviously." He would answer.

"Why are you so big?" Another question came.

"I'm a monster, kid." He sighed. "We do the 'growing' thing. A _lot_."

"Why do you have all this stuff?" A child asked, Tamatoa having not noticed that one got quite close to his treasure.

With an irritated glare, he plucked the child off his back with an antennae and placed her on the ground. "Awfully nosy little things, aren't you?" He growled, removing the other kids from himself as well. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"But we've never seen a real live monster before!" They whined. Tamatoa rolled his eyes; clearly these annoying little things weren't planning on giving up anytime soon.

"Children." A voice interrupted. Glancing to the side, Tamatoa saw that the voice belonged to none other than Chief Tui. The chief raised an eyebrow at the group of kids and continued, "Go play somewhere else. I need a word alone with the monster."

The children seemed disappointed, but were quick to comply with their leader's request.

"Wow." Tamatoa chuckled, holding his head up with a claw. "Didn't think I'd be relieved to see _you_ again." He exuded a calm and cool demeanour on the outside, but kept in mind to be careful of what he said around Tui. Though he wasn't the most perceptive of beings, the crustacean could tell that it would be wise to at least _attempt_ to make a good impression with this particular human.

"I'm going to be blunt with you, crab." Tui stated starkly, folding his arms. "I don't like you."

"Moi?" Tamatoa blinked innocently, gesturing to himself. "What's not to like?"

… Okay. Probably not the best thing to say. Tamatoa supposed he'd have to just roll with it now. When he saw Tui narrow his eyes in annoyance, the decapod went on. "Aw, c'mon, chief." He sang calmly, not letting the man get the better of him. "You may not like me now, but I think you'll come to find that I'm actually quite _crabtivating._ " He gave a good-humoured wink as he said the pun, seeing if he could get any sort of reaction out of Tui other than that unimpressed glare.

The chief was not amused. Which was odd, considering how utterly fantastic and charming the crab is. Oh, well. Tui probably just has bad taste. Tamatoa refrained from saying so out loud, though.

"You listen to me, crab." Tui said sternly. "Moana may be excessively forgiving of what you tried to do to her, but I am not." His eyes became even colder, something Tamatoa didn't think was possible until now. "If you try to hurt my daughter again, _I will_ _ **kill you**_ _."_

... Hmm. What a laughable threat from a creature so small. He must be off his rocker if he thought he could actually manage such a feat.

... But he could see why the chief would say this. Human parents are supposed to love and protect their children. Tamatoa knew that much, at least. Moana meant a lot to him, and surprisingly, the crab could relate.

"... I wouldn't blame you." The crustacean answered finally, watching the chief with a look of understanding. His voice carried a completely different tone to it, surprising the chief. "I can guarantee that you won't have any reason to kill me, but it's pretty obvious that my word alone won't reassure you of that. I'm no more than an untrustworthy monster to you, after all..." He smirked slightly; probably not the best look to give her dad right now, but he couldn't help himself. "Either way, I can't _wait_ to prove you wrong."

The chief was expressionless for a while as he thought over everything, coldly watching the decapod. But, surprisingly enough, Tui returned the smirk. "Alright, then." He said. "Glad we're on the same page."

… Strange choice of words. But minor protective threats were nothing Tamatoa couldn't handle. At least they've made it _somewhat_ clear to each other what their stances are on the whole situation. And now the crab _knew_ he had something to prove to these people.


	27. Fuck It, Gotta Be Nice-ish

Tamatoa continued to keep his distance for the first few days, trying to think up ways to impress these people while at the same time not wanting to unnerve them by hovering. The crab was also trying to get used to the idea that humans aren't all bad; he had Moana to think of as an example, after all… but sometimes it was hard to convince himself. But the villagers seemed peaceful enough, aside from the occasional glare. He probably didn't have to worry about any of them trying to start trouble with him. Probably.

The decapod would observe them from afar as they did their usual routines, and Moana would give him a rundown of what people's jobs were and their daily practices. (Though he got distracted by her sparkly crown a lot. Took a lot of willpower not to pluck it off her head, honestly.)

Man, they have surprisingly complicated lives for such tiny little buggers, all the things they do to survive… but they didn't seem to mind it, so hey, as long as they're happy?

It's amazing, how happy they can be. Must come from being such social creatures.

One sunny morning, Tamatoa noticed Sina approaching some fisherman that looked very perplexed due to one of their boats. It seemed to be badly damaged; he figured it must have happened during a fishing trip somehow. The crab watched as they slowly moved the boat across the beach by rolling it on logs, stopping every few feet to move some logs from the back to the front so they could keep moving.

 _Huh. How tedious. Surely there must be a faster way to—_

 _… Ooo. Oohoho~. Idea~._

"How did this happen?" Sina asked as she moved to the back to help with one of the logs.

"We don't know," One of them answered, frowning. "We were pulling up the traps, and something in the water just seemed to push our boat into the rocks. It happened so fast, we didn't get a good look at what did it. We must've startled a shark or something…"

"Hmm… Perhaps…" Sina pondered, wondering if a shark could apply enough force to drive them into the rocks. She was distracted from her thoughts when the damaged boat was suddenly lifted into the air by a large claw.

"Don't worry, just me." Tamatoa said with a smirk after they gave him some alarmed looks. "Thought you could use a little help."

Sina blinked, exchanging surprised glances with the fishermen. "Oh… Uh… Thank you, Tamatoa."

"No problem, Si." He replied, knowing he shouldn't call her 'babe', but still didn't like using full names all the time. "Where do you want it?"

The group led Tamatoa back to the village, directing him to the area they'd like him to set the boat for repairs. Thanking him once more, Sina and the others went to work fixing the canoe as the crustacean headed back to the beach.

Tamatoa felt victorious; finally he had figured out a way to get on their better side! There were _tons_ of things these humans did that are big challenges to them, but no problem for the giant crab. It would be so easy to lighten their workload. The thought of it made him a bit giddy.

… Wait a second. Was he actually _enjoying_ the thought of helping gross little _humans?_ Has he gone _mad?_ He's from _Lalotai,_ for Te Fiti's sake, he shouldn't be—

…

You know what. No. He's not in Lalotai anymore. It's… It's **_okay_** to behave like this. He had to stop _forgetting_ that.


	28. Consider THESE Coconuts!

"I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" The crustacean exclaimed, pacing back and forth as he conversed with the demigod that had come down to talk to him. "Do you know how long it takes them to clear groves of diseased or dead trees? Hours! Maybe even _days!_ I could take care of that _easily,_ along with _loads_ of other stuff that takes them forever!" He clicked his claws together gleefully, chuckling (ironically) like a villain with an evil scheme. "This'll be far easier than I thought!"

Maui laughed under his breath as he listened to Tamatoa ramble; he almost hated having to bring up something negative, especially since the crustacean had finally stopped worrying about monster attacks and was focusing on something positive…

"So, uh… It's really great that you're deciding to help out, but…" Maui rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, frowning. "I've got to tell you something."

Tamatoa tilted his head in confusion, worried by the deity's tone. "Yes…?"

With a sigh, Maui just came out and said it. "Look. A couple of the villagers, Wikoli and Pilipo, have claimed that _you_ wrecked that boat so you could help out with it later and make yourself look good."

 _"What?"_ The crab took a step back, startled by the accusation. "I wouldn't do that! I was on the shore the whole time, just ask Sina! I wouldn't have—"

"I know, I know; Sina and the fisherman are vouching for you, and Moana's doing what she can to sort them out. But even she can't stop people from believing what they want to believe." Maui reassured him, taking a step forward. "I just wanted you to hear it from _me_ rather than one of the… less accepting villagers, y'know?"

Tamatoa narrowed his eyes slightly, annoyed that his name was being slandered already; that was the last thing he needed right now.

… Eh. But it's not like he can really _blame_ them, considering. He'd just have to work extra hard to prove his worth.

"Well, no matter." The crab said finally, looking away. "They're just a couple of liars, anyway. S'not going to stop me from proving 'em wrong."

"Heh, wow," Maui commented, folding his arms. "You took that well, crab cake. I'm impressed."

"Naturally," Tamatoa replied with a sly grin. "I'm as impressive as they come. And soon those little humans will realize that, too~." He clicked his tongue at that last bit, doing a quick pose before the two of them shared a laugh.

And, surprisingly enough, Tamatoa's service seemed to be working. He managed to help out in lots of different areas; from attracting fish into their traps with his shininess to harvesting foods and materials from across the island that would otherwise take days to get, the giant crab certainly seemed to be proving his usefulness. Even chief Tui was starting to appreciate the extra help.

But the crab _really_ came into his own when it came to a certain crew of murdering little pirates…

"See, isn't it nice to be nice?" Moana said smugly as she and the crustacean patched up a damaged roof together; she was pleased that the crab was finally dropping the Lalotai frame of mind.

"Pssh." Tamatoa snickered, handing her some fronds and rolling his eyes. "I'm only doing it for a good rep, babe. Not much else to it."

"C'mon, admit it." She smirked. "It makes you feel a little good inside, doesn't it?"

Raising a brow, he did another eye roll. Was he really _that_ readable? "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Maybe a _little_ bit." He admitted with a laugh. "As usual, you're right."

Their conversation was cut off by the yelling of a frantic-looking man running towards them.

"Kanoi?" Moana blinked, confused and concerned. Tamatoa picked her up off the roof and placed her on the ground so she could properly face the man. "What's wrong?"

Out of breath, Kanoi placed his hands on his knees and wheezed, "P-Pirate… things… Beach… Where's… Maui…?!"

The demigod wasn't available; he was off checking on some of the other islands. But that was no problem. Moana knew _exactly_ what was on the beach. "Kakamora." She said out loud.

"Again with these 'Kakamora' things! Maui never told me what they are! What are Kakamora?" Tamatoa queried, very confused.

Moana flashed him a confident smirk and answered, "Coconuts."

"… Coconuts?" The crab repeated, a very faint devious smile starting to appear on his face.

Turning to Kanoi, Moana ordered, "Tell the other villagers to steer clear of the beach." Giving the man a bold grin, she continued, "We'll handle this."


	29. Always Gotta Have That One Racist Guy

_Zwing!_

Several arrows were shot down into the sand, just narrowly missing the heads of those that were still on the beach; the shore was cluttered with scattered fishing equipment that had been dropped in the panic. Tui was among them, doing everything he could to evacuate the people safely while batting oncoming arrows away with a fishing spear.

The Kakamora's boat had been thoroughly remodeled after their run-in with Maui and Moana. It was far smaller than last time, though that wasn't to say it's not still a large and intimidating ship in comparison to the canoes of Motunui. The sail alone looked tall enough to pierce the sky.

As Tui was trying to rush the last few people to safety, the coconut pirates shot another flurry of arrows down, aimed directly at the humans. Tui immediately moved in front of the others, squeezing his eyes shut as he braced himself.

What came next was not pain and death, however, but rather the sound of metal colliding with the weapons. When Tui opened his eyes, he saw the body of a crab squatting over them, using his treasure-covered shell as an improvised shield. Grinning down at the chief, Tamatoa chirped, "Good timing, eh?" _One more second and you would've been one heck of a shish-kabob,_ he debated saying, but decided not to after figuring it'd be disconcerting to refer to the man as food.

Upon seeing the heap of gold, the Kakamora started jumping up and down in excitement, the banging of drums sounding from the deck. However, when pile of treasures rose to its full height and revealed the massive coconut crab attached to it, their excitement quickly turned to dread.

"Well," Tamatoa smirked, glancing at the girl that'd been standing by his head. "What's your call, babe?"

"They have a lot of arrows, clubs, and spears; those seem to be their weapons of choice." Moana explained, twirling her javelin in anticipation. "But the blowdarts are what you should look out for. They make you go limp."

"Neurologically-inhibiting poison darts. Got it." The crustacean clicked his pincers together in anticipation, completely ready to wreck these guys.

The lead Kakamora appeared to recognize Moana, as it became noticeably more aggressive at the sight of her. Jumping down to the beach fearlessly, it pointed its staff at the girl. Despite their clear terror of the humongous decapod, the rest of the pirates followed suit, charging at their target as commanded.

Moana jumped down from the crustacean to the sand, and the duo went to work. Moana was skillful in dodging the pirate's weapons and retaliating with her own, and Tamatoa made quick work of the oncoming hordes with his claws.

Unsurprisingly, they were doing well at keeping the feisty pirates at bay... at first. While they were dealing with the first rushes of Kakamora, one of the pirates had sounded a loud horn from aboard the boat. As the sound echoed through the air, a wave of Kakamora emerged from the hull of the boat where they had been concealed, bringing to the deck with them an array of large cannons.

Ah, crap.

Quick to react, Tamatoa darted over Moana and angled his shell towards the ship to act as a shield, bracing himself for the inevitable barrage.

 _Bang! Bang! Bang!_

The thunderous roar of the cannon-fire was overwhelming. Each strike that landed pushed the crustacean back due to the force. Moana bit her tongue, looking around frantically as she tried to devise a course of action, but was distracted when she saw a trail of Kakamora start to make their way to the village while they were occupied. She immediately ran in their path to block them, bating them away with her javelin. Moana stood her ground well, but the Kakamora kept her too busy to call on any extra help from the ocean.

Tamatoa stayed on the defensive for the most part, continuing using his shield to deflect oncoming cannonballs, though the sting they caused was becoming hard to ignore…

The crab also became preoccupied by a group of coconuts that had started swarming his legs and throwing spears and knives at his face. With an irritated growl, Tamatoa started swiping at them with a claw. Little did he know, they were just a distraction; while he was focused on the pirates below him, a group of Kakamora had climbed onto his back, preparing to shoot a flurry of blowdarts into the back of the monster's neck.

Their plan was foiled, however, when a net was flung at the creatures from above. Upon hearing the ensnared coconuts stumble and fall off his shell, Tamatoa glanced over to see what caused the commotion. To his surprise, he saw that the source of the net was none other than chief Tui standing on the edge of his shell. While the other villagers had already fled, Tui must have stayed behind in case he was needed.

 _Huh. How brave. But also foolish._ Well, perhaps he shouldn't be regarding the one that just saved his skin as foolish.

"A little out of character for you to help out the big, bad crab monster, isn't it, chief?" Tamatoa said slyly, raising an eyebrow as he lowered his shell so the man could safely jump off.

Tui rolled his eyes, batting away some Kakamora as he jumped down to the sand. "Not the time for that." He replied flatly.

" _Heads up, Tama!_ "

At Moana's warning, the crab whirled around just in time to catch a roped arrow between his pincers. Moana swiftly knocked the Kakamora that shot it away from the rope and grabbed onto it herself, nodding to the crustacean. Luckily they were both thinking the same thing; at Moana's signal, Tamatoa swung the rope across the beach with her holding on, wiping out a good portion of the pirates as she swung by them. At this point, many of the Kakamora had started falling back, heading back to the ship to arm more of the cannons instead of hand-to-hand combat.

This gave Tui an idea. He turned his attention to the Kakamora's ship, paying particular attention to the sail post. _Yes, that should work…_

He was shaken out of his thoughts as the crab monster snatched him up into the air, saving him from oncoming blowdarts. "Not the time for spacing out either, mon ami." Tamatoa snickered.

Ignoring the decapod's cheeky comment, Tui instead said something confusing. "I need you to throw me."

Puzzled, Tamatoa blinked. "Uhh… What."

After Tui exasperatedly pointed to the sail post, Tamatoa started to realize what he meant. "Oooh… I get your drift…" He reared his claw back, prepared to launch Tui has hard as he could. Glancing at the chief once more for confirmation, he proceeded with the throw after Tui's nod.

Tui was thrown directly at the top of the sail post, and as he anticipated, the force of the toss and impact on the post started to make their boat tip. The Kakamoras, in a panic, darted to the side of the ship that was rising out of the water in an attempt to weigh it down.

Upon seeing this turn of events, Moana quickly turned to the sea. "Ocean!" She called, gesturing to the ship.

In response, the water came to her father's aid, slamming into the side of the Kakamora ship to overturn it completely. The Kakamora plunged into the water, as did their cannons and other supplies. As the coconuts were scrambling in the waves, the ocean gently swept up Tui and placed him safely on the beach, patting his head.

As for the Kakamora, the crew had scrambled onto an emergency raft that had detached from the ship as it tipped, ditching their captain on the beach. The captain watched them float away for a moment before slowly turning back to face the crab and two humans, watching them awkwardly.

"So what do we do with this one?" Moana wondered, raising an eyebrow at the crustacean.

Tamatoa clicked his claws together gleefully, grinning. "Oh, don't worry." He chirped maliciously, picking up the pirate. "Apparently I'm a pretty good shot. Good riddance! Thanks for the free boat!"

On that note, Tamatoa threw the coconut at the rest of the crew, but overshot the throw a bit, as the captain splashed into the water next to the raft instead of landing on it.

"Oops." The crab purred with a sorry-not-sorry tone of voice.

Moana rolled her eyes, laughing under her breath as she shook her head. She then turned her attention to her father, nudging him playfully. "Hey, that was some pretty good teamwork we all did, huh?"

"Hmm…" He mumbled, glancing contemplatively at the crustacean. The monster fought well to help defend them. The chief had seen first-hand now how quick Tamatoa was to protect Moana, and how he'd even come to his own aid. That had to be worth _something_ , Tui admitted to himself. Maybe Moana was right; maybe he _should_ have a second chance. "… I suppose it was." He finally agreed, smiling very slightly as a sign of acceptance.

Oh _Gods,_ the relief that swept over him. Tamatoa was _finally_ getting somewhere with this stubborn chieftain! Nonetheless, the crab kept his cool, smirking in response. "Agreed."

That pirate encounter appeared to be the kicker. The villagers actually seemed to start liking and respecting the crab, to an extent. People were less hesitant in accepting his help, and just all-around _nicer_ to him. Though all the social interaction could be quite tiring at times, it was still quite touching to the crustacean; it's almost like he earned a new kind of treasure.

Unfortunately, not everyone was so quick to be accepting of a monster like him.


	30. What's Scarier, Rocks or Giant Puas?

"So, where are we going, exactly?"

Tamatoa had been following these two humans for quite some time, venturing into parts of Motunui that the villagers hardly ever went. Their surroundings consisted of fields and gnarled trees bedecked with leaves that shimmered in the sunlight. There was a clear view of the ocean past all the trees as well, making for a rather scenic area.

The two humans, a teenage boy and girl, glanced at each other with restrained smirks. "Oh, you'll see when we get there. It's not much farther." The girl answered.

Tamatoa narrowed his eyes slightly, not liking how strange they were behaving. These two were Wikoli and Pilipo, after all, two of the villagers that clearly held a high amount of disdain for the crab. He'd often find himself on the receiving end of scornful comments from these two when Moana wasn't nearby to hear it. They were always careful of what they said or did around Moana after the whole boat lie, knowing how defensive she could get of the crustacean.

Naturally he was suspicious of these two, but a part of him also greatly desired their acceptance. So when they had come to him asking for help retrieving an item, Tamatoa jumped at the chance to get on their better side.

Was his need to be accepted letting him disregard his better judgment…?

… Nah. It's not like two puny little humans could do much to him, anyway. Still, he kept his guard up.

"We're here!" Pilipo stated, gesturing to a crumbly-looking cave structure with his walking stick.

Tamatoa approached the cave slowly, looking it over. It looked like it was just about ready to collapse; to be honest, it looked more like a poorly-built pile of boulders than a cavern. Turning to the humans, he asked, "Whatever possessed you to come all the way out _here_ to fly your kite things, anyway?"

"Because it's peaceful out here!" Pilipo answered simply, gesturing at the calm field around them. "We like to come this way to be alone! But the wind was particularly strong today, and Wikoli lost her grip, and the kite went flying into that cave!"

 _Strange._ _ **I**_ _didn't find it very windy today. But maybe that's just my opinion._

Tapping his chin contemplatively, Tamatoa eyed the pair with a skeptical gaze. "And why, exactly, didn't either of _you_ go in to get it? Seems like a simple enough task."

Getting irritated with how long it was taking to convince the crab to go inside, Wikoli put her hands on her hips and sneered, "Well we _would_ have, but, uh…" She paused as she tried to come up with an excuse, "… we heard some noises inside! What if there are wild boars or something in there?!"

"Yeah," Pilipo backed her up, putting an arm around her while watching the crustacean. "Something like that could really do a number on us! But no animal around here could cause _you_ any harm, right? Simple task for you, not so much for us."

Upon seeing that the only reaction they got this time was a cynical eyebrow-raise, Wikoli gave Tamatoa the best puppy-dog eyes she could muster. "Pleeeaaase? It would mean so much to me… My grandma…" She added a sad sniffle for effect. "She made that kite special for me before she… passed away, and…" Another sob. She laid the theatrics on thick, as she even managed to make herself tear up.

 _Oh Gods, she's doing the crying thing. I_ _ **hate**_ _the crying thing._

"Okay, okay!" Tamatoa finally caved, too socially inept to put up with her emotional shenanigans. "I'll get it back in a jiff, just stop with… all _that_ …" He muttered, gesturing to her face.

Turning to the cave, he tilted his head. It was a big cave, more than enough space for him to enter, but he'd still have to be careful not to bump into the walls; even for a creature as big as Tamatoa, getting buried alive would be a tough situation to get out of. Treading carefully, he went inside.

It was fairly dark, but not quite enough to trigger his bioluminescence very much. The crab used his antennae to lightly feel his surroundings. Getting a sense of how unstable the walls were through his feelers, the crustacean lightened his step, eager to get this over with. So far he hasn't smelled anything like a boar in here… Those were basically just giant Puas, right? Anyhow, those two humans must have imagined the noises they heard.

… Come to think of it, he saw no sign of a kite, either. And he'd already wandered pretty far in.

Before he could completely come to the realization he'd been tricked, the walls started to crumble around him. Almost in an instant, the crab was basically entombed. He'd barely had enough reaction time to shield his head under his claws, but somehow he managed it.

Clearing his head of the haze of surprise, Tamatoa could make out the distant callous laughter of the pair as they ran off. They must've dislodged some of the base boulders while the crab was inside. _Little_ _ **brats.**_

Growling in irritation, Tamatoa started to move to get out of the rubble, but stilled immediately after some of the large rocks shifted dangerously around him.

He'd have to go about this very slowly and carefully if he didn't want to be suddenly crushed by dislodging the boulders the wrong way.

How utterly annoying and tedious. He couldn't believe he fell for something like this _again._

The crab started to move again, careful to keep his head shielded, and cursing himself all the while for believing those two troublemakers.

He had made some good progress after a while, digging some of the rocks out of his way while thoughts festered about how bitter he currently felt towards those teens, but he went still when he suddenly heard an ominous noise. Antennae perking up, the crab listened closely to hear for it again.

Silence.

Had he just imagined it?

No. Wait. There it was again. Something was definitely moving nearby.

And it did _not_ smell human.

The weight of stone suddenly felt far more suffocating. What if it was an ally of Nafiira's finally making a move? This was a terribly vulnerable position to be found in. Curse his bad luck.

Tamatoa quickened his pace, eager to free himself now. When he heard the skitter of the creature dancing around him in response to his movement, he let out a deep, menacing growl. _"Whoever you are, you'd best get off this island before I_ _ **rip you apart.**_ _"_

A rascally snicker came in response. Understandably so, as it seemed like an empty threat coming from someone buried under a pile of rubble, but when the crab smashed an opening through the rocks with his claw, the thing let out an alarmed hiss and darted away.

Tamatoa shakily rose from the debris, sore from the ordeal, but remained wary. He hastily looked around, but saw no sign of whatever was with him. Still, he could swear he felt its presence, felt its eyes burning into his very being.

And he wasn't wrong; though the creature was concealed from Tamatoa's view, its piercing amber eyes watched the crab curiously from the leaves of a distant tree.

Upon seeing nothing, Tamatoa gave up on looking. He couldn't worry about it now. He had to get these boulders off of him. Hoping the creature would keep its distance, the crustacean went to work moving the heavier rocks off his shell.

"There he is!" A voice exclaimed from the sky, distracting him.

Tamatoa looked up to see a hawk-form Maui flying down to his side, Moana on the shapeshifter's back. When they landed, Moana jumped off Maui's back and to Tamatoa's side. "What happened?! Are you okay?!"

The crab laughed bitterly under his breath, prying a boulder off of himself. "Yeah, I'm fine. Handled a lot worse in my time, babe." Looking around once more, Tamatoa asked, "Hey, did you see anything… _unusual_ during your flight, Maui?"

Maui was enveloped in a flash of blue as he changed to his regular form, watching the crab with a mix of concern and puzzlement. "What? No, just _you_ stuck under a bunch of rocks! Don't change the subject, what happened here?" As he awaited an answer, he climbed on the crustacean to help remove the rocks.

Tamatoa rolled his eyes, an annoyed chirp escaping him. He wasn't keen on the idea of starting drama with the Motunui residents. "Look, it's no big deal." He said idly. "Just some dumb prank."

"Burying you alive?! That's not a prank!" Moana exclaimed. She narrowed her eyes slightly as a realization came to her. "This was Wikoli and Pilipo's doing, wasn't it? They _know_ how dangerous this cave is!" She turned around, putting her hands on her hips as she ranted, "Oh, I will give them _such_ an earful when I get back!"

"Um… Really Mo, it's fine." Tamatoa reassured, dusting himself off. It still surprised him how willing she was to stick up for him. "Stuff like this happened a lot in Lalotai. Other monsters loved baiting me into dangerous situations with shiny things all the time. Thought it was hilarious. So trust me, I'm used to it."

"What?" Maui said, a look of pity starting to form after hearing this new information. "You never mentioned that whenever I went down to see you."

With a shrug, he replied simply, "You never asked. And it's not like being stupid enough to fall for some dumb trick time and time again was worth _bragging_ about." He then gave Maui a smirk. "'Sides, I got payback when I was big enough." A pause, then a glance to Moana with an awkward grin. "Not that I would do that to _your_ people, of course… ha ha…"

Moana returned the awkward smile, unsure of what to think. Hearing more about his tendency for revenge made her a bit concerned for Wikoli and Pilipo's well-being… but it was more of a subconscious worry. She had more faith in him than _that_. After all, he'd managed to overcome his desire for revenge against Maui and herself. That was proof enough for her.

Maui, noticing the mild tension in the air, piped up. "So hey, why don't we head back? No point sticking around, right?"

"Yes, of course." Tamatoa agreed, hoisting Moana onto his shell next to the demigod. He started to walk back towards the village, but paused, looking around once more for the creature he thought he heard before.

"Something wrong, crab cake?" Maui asked.

The crab hesitated to answer. He had been trapped under a bunch of rocks, so it's not like he _saw_ the source of the noise; what he heard could have very well just been some wildlife. Hell, he could have imagined the whole thing. He was ridiculously paranoid when it came to Nafiira's weightless threats, after all… Was it really worth starting a panic over an encounter that had little to no evidence of danger?

"… No, nothing." With that, he continued on his way, disregarding the incident for now.

The amber eyes watched them go. Its pupils were dilated and focused on Maui. Silent as a ghost, the creature vanished from the trees.

The stars that blanketed the sky that night flickered with a dull, somber glow.

The stillness of the ocean seemed somehow sinister.

The wind whispered quiet threats.

Maui's hook had been leaned against the crab's favoured tree, and Tamatoa was laying silently near the edge of the beach, fighting slumber. He gently held the sleeping Maui and Moana close to himself with a claw, instincts driving him to be protective.

Though he tried his best to stay awake, he had gone through a very tiring day, eventually giving in to the clutches of sleep.

Perhaps if he had been just a tad more observant, he would have noticed that following morning that something had knocked Maui's hook over in the night.


	31. Telling Stories Is For Scrubs -- Wait

Four days passed.

No sign of monsters.

Yet Tamatoa still found himself looking over his shoulder more often than he'd like to admit. When Moana started to notice his jumpiness, she became concerned.

"Are you okay?" She asked him one morning as they were husking coconuts on a far end of the island.

"Hm?" The crab tilted his head slightly in response. "Yeah, fine. Why?"

"I dunno. You seem a little on edge since that thing at the cave…"

"I'm fine, babe. You worry too much."

"… You sure?" The girl didn't seem convinced.

Tamatoa bit his tongue, falling silent for a moment. She'd just worry more if he kept brushing it off. He knew her well enough at this point to know that. "… Look. I'm… probably just overreacting."

"Overreacting to what?" Maui asked curiously, jumping to the crab's shell to put down a basket of coconuts collected.

With a sigh, the crustacean answered, "I heard some kind of creature while I was under the rocks. Was probably jus' some wildlife or something, but…"

"Ahh," The demigod chuckled knowingly. " _Now_ look who's worrying too much." Leaning on his hook, Maui raised an eyebrow. "Haven't we been over this? No monster's going to get the best of us!" He patted the crab's head reassuringly, exuding confidence.

"Yeah," Moana agreed, "and besides, it's been, what, four days since then?" She mimicked Maui's grin. "If there really was another monster on the island, I think we'd have heard about it by now, right?"

 _…_

 _Yeah._

 _They're probably right. They usually are._

 _I guess I just needed to hear someone say it out loud._

That talk seemed to do the trick. The crab gradually let himself relax, and everyone went about business as usual.

Whatever "usual" is anymore.

"And then… _BOOM!"_ An audience of awe-stricken young eyes watched, mesmerized, as Maui swung his hook through the air. "I struck Te Ka right in the chest!"

"Did you kill it?" One of the wide-eyed children asked. They'd heard this story time and time again when Moana and Maui first returned from their ordeal, but every time they asked to hear it, they still loved to ask questions.

"No," Maui answered, lowering his voice as he leaned over the campfire to give his face an ominous glow, "Te Ka was stunned, but not defeated. She destroyed my hook, but did that stop the Hero Of All? No way!"

"Pfft," Tamatoa snickered, laying in the sand next to Moana. "What were ya gonna do, yell her to death?" Giving Moana a light pat on the head, he teased, "If it hadn't been for this little lady, you'd have been one heckuva barbeque."

Moana rolled her eyes with a chuckle, elbowing the crustacean. "We couldn't have done it without each other."

"Tamatoa, won't _you_ tell us a story?" A child asked, turning her attention to the crab. "We wanna hear about Lalotai!"

"Uh. No you don't." Tamatoa answered flatly. He still didn't like the younger kids; they were annoying. Though he could tolerate them when they came to hang out with Moana or Maui, as little interaction with them as possible was preferred.

"Yes we do!" She persisted, some of the other kids backing her up.

"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase?" They begged, watching him hopefully.

Tamatoa narrowed his eyes slightly with an annoyed chirp, remembering Wikoli pleading him in the same manner.

Moana noticed the annoyed look right away. In an attempt to play on his attention-seeking side, she nudged him playfully and said, "C'mon Tama, you wouldn't turn down such an eager audience, would you?"

Another chirp escaped him as he lifted his head. "Monsters don't tell stories."

"Sure you do," Maui contradicted, smirking. "You've told _me_ plenty of stories before. Why don't you talk about that one guy you told me about… what was his name… Mano'ayhay?"

 _"Mana'aihue."_ Tamatoa corrected. After realizing he fell for that bait, he shot Maui a mildly annoyed look that said _you're not helping._ "Okay, fine." He conceded.

Tapping his chin slowly, he looked the children over. Well, they may be irritating, but they're an audience nonetheless, like Moana said. He'd been observing how Moana and Maui would tell tales, so he figured it should be simple enough to put on a show for these mini humans.

"There are many beasts that roam Lalotai, but none quite as elusive and mysterious as Mana'aihue. His very existence is a thing of debate." Narrowing his eyes into slits, Tamatoa went on, "Descriptions of his physical appearance are disputed. Some say he has wings like a dragon, black as the night. Others comment on his devilish sets of horns. It is argued whether he stands on two legs or runs on all four, quick as lightning… One thing that's been agreed on is that his reptilian-like body is covered in scales of orange, stripes of navy-black all over his face and body." The crab lifted his claw over the flames, casting a shadow over his face to activate his bioluminescence. "It is said that he will do most anything to get what he wants, no matter how ruthless."

The children's eyes widened when the markings appeared, huddling closer to each other. "What does he want…?" Came a nervous voice.

"What we _all_ want. Power." The crustacean answered, voice lowered. With a sly smile, he asked, "Ever heard of Lemuria?"

"The Lost Land?" Moana queried, becoming curious herself.

"Yes, the Lost Land." Tamatoa continued, rising to his feet to pace, eyes on his audience all the while. "But before it was the Lost Land, it was Lemuria. A land of telepaths."

"What's a telepath?" A boy asked, frowning.

Tamatoa smirked, leaning down to get a better look at the kid, lightly brushing an antennae over his forehead as he explained. "A being that can look into your very mind, and can communicate to you with their own." Turning away for a moment, Tamatoa clicked his pincers together. "Mana'aihue is a stealer of supernatural abilities like that. And, rumour has it, Lemuria is where he began his quest for power."

Moana and Maui exchanged intrigued glances. This was the first Maui heard of Mana'aihue in such detail. The pair of them wondered if a creature with such an extraordinary ability could actually exist and go so unnoticed.

"The Lemurian people were of the peaceful sort, and had a strong connection to nature." Tamatoa explained, idly examining a claw. "Mana'aihue was no more than a simple beast of Lalotai back then. The reptile held a grudge against the Gods for making him a creature so insignificant. Knowing that deities would often come to the aid of dissatisfied humans, he would often find himself praying for a better life. When he got no response, he grew bitter, blaming every misfortune and grievance he had on them. Yet, somehow, he seemed internally aware of what he could be capable of. A voice within him urged him to search for more, to prove himself as something more than just another lonely resident of Lalotai. He left the Realm Of Monsters in search of something to quench his desires." Turning back to face the small crowd, Tamatoa began to pace again. "He was drawn to Lemuria. It was a mythical land; just what he had been looking for." Nearing the flames slowly, the crustacean's voice became an ominous hiss. "Mana'aihue was not a creature of peace like the Lemurians were. He was a creature driven by desire and power-hungry greed."

 _A trait we shared,_ Tamatoa commented bitterly to himself before going on.

"He demanded the people give up all their secrets to him, to answer his question as to why he was drawn there." The crab backed away from the flames once more. "He was not the patient type. When the Lemurians couldn't provide him with an answer…"

Without warning, the decapod lunged forward with snapping claws, hovering over the fire in such a way that the flames accented his bioluminescent glows. He smirked in satisfaction at the alarmed squeaks he got out of the children, and his tone took on a menacing, dark growl. "He made quick work of the first one that got in his way. It was the moment he touched that first Lemurian that he realized his ability, tuning into the thoughts of the remaining villagers in an instant. Overwhelmed by the flow of knowledge flooding his mind, he went into a frenzy, destroying the last of the inhabitants… and after finally adjusting to his new strength, he danced in delight, finally knowing what he was really capable of. With his newfound voice, he shouted to the skies." A chorus of chirps escaped the crab as he took on the persona of Mana'aihue. _"Hear me! I am Mana'aihue! The Gods will rue the day they chose to forsake me! It is you that I will come for next!"_

The crab jumped backwards, the impact he made when he landed making a loud _thud!_

"Just like that, the land began to crumble, folding in on itself. The Gods had finally responded to Mana'aihue, not to help him, but to get rid of him now that he was a threat." He paused for a moment, taking a moment to enjoy his audience's astonished expressions. Finally, he continued, "Everything fell apart. Lemuria was destroyed, just like its people had been only moments before." Tamatoa closed his eyes. "The ocean wept for the loss, covering the Lost Land in a blanket of somber waves."

"What… What happened to Mana'aihue…?" A girl whispered, quiet as if their island would crumble as well if her voice grew any louder.

Tamatoa opened one eye to glance at her, smiling lopsidedly. "Nobody knows. Some say he's dead. Others say that he escaped, lying in wait and manifesting his powers for a perfect moment to strike, and that's why he's so elusive."

Everyone was silent as they took in the story, stunned expressions on all of them.

"… But it's just a tale." Tamatoa commented, a bit weirded out by their silence. "Just a string of rumours from across Lalotai to form a dumb story." He shrugged.

"You kiddin'?!" Maui exclaimed with an entertained grin. "That was awesome, crab cake!" Moana and the children nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

"Oh. Heh. Well then…" With an enthused chirp, he gave an exaggerated bow. "I aim to please."


	32. Don't Eat This One OK

(Author's note: I know this chapter feels a little awkward, but I promise that Tala's useful later and that her weird introduction isn't for nothing *sobs* Also, thank you to the user DaughterOfMoana for all your kind reviews; I don't know why I can't reply to them, but just letting you know I appreciate it! (That goes the same for anyone else's reviews that I can't seem to reply to either! Thank you for your support!))

Another beautiful night. Stars shone like moondust scattered across the black sky, a serene still veiling the island.

Tamatoa awoke to the sound of… singing?

He quietly rose to his feet, moving towards the source of the noise. It seemed to be coming from behind a cluster of trees and bush near the shore. Moana's voice, maybe? But it sounded like there were two…

 _It's like the tide always falling and rising…~_

It's not easy to stay hidden when you're a giant bioluminescent monster crab, but with the cover of the plant life, Tamatoa managed it well enough. Peeking out from behind the leaves, he saw Moana sitting at the water's edge, back turned to him.

 _I will carry you here in my heart, you'll remind me…~_

She wasn't alone. Facing her in the water was… a glowy… blue human…? Humans don't glow, do they? He kept himself concealed, curious, but not sure if it was a good idea to approach.

 _That come what may, I know the way…~_

Her voice was surprisingly stunning. The blue human's wasn't bad either, accompanying her voice quietly. They were singing softly, meaningfully, harmoniously. It was rather lovely.

When they were done, the ghost-like figure looked past Moana to the underbrush where the crab was hiding. "What, no applause?" She smirked. Moana glanced back to where she was looking, confused.

Well. Not the best hider. Tamatoa awkwardly stepped out into view, the blue woman grinning with amusement at his dumbfounded face. "I take it that this is the famous Tamatoa?" She inquired casually, striding over.

"Ah, yeah…" Moana answered, standing up. Looking awkwardly between them, Moana gestured to the blue lady. "Uh… Tamatoa, this is my grandma Tala…"

"Oh." The crab blinked again. "Good to meet y-"

Wait.

Her _grandma?_

The _dead_ grandma that he had _mocked_ when he first met Moana?

Tamatoa's expression went completely blank, which only seemed to make Tala chuckle.

"You're right, he seems to have changed a _lot_ since the last I heard of him…" She said, circling the crab. She seemed to be analyzing him. Great. Like Tamatoa needed _another_ extremely perceptive person reading him like a book.

The crustacean looked to Moana for clarification. Moana shrugged slightly, flashing a slight smile and saying, "We've just been catching up, and I guess we were talking about you…?"

"My favourite subject." Tamatoa snickered, eyes still on the strange blue entity.

"If you say so." Tala replied with a devious, knowing smirk. Walking back to the edge of the water, she continued, "You should stay a while. Chat with us. Not every day one meets a giant talking crab."

 _This is… odd._

 _But intriguing._

 _Never a dull moment with these people is there?_

"Not every day one meets a glowing transparent human, either." Tamatoa responded. He glanced at Moana to make sure he wasn't intruding. When she gave him an approving nod, the three of them sat together to converse through the night.


	33. Calm Before The Storm

Uneventful. That was a good way to describe the following week.

Not in the bad way, mind you. It was actually quite a relief, not getting attacked every other day. Well, by monsters or pirates, anyway. Tamatoa still had the bratty Wikoli and Pilipo to deal with. Just the other day, they had stolen some of the treasures Moana gave him off his back while he was sleeping, solely for the purpose of messing with him. Almost lost his temper when he was getting it back from them, if he was being honest… Moana had to get between the three of them when she heard the arguing.

She could tell his patience had been wearing thin with these two.

Tamatoa would have to start avoiding the pair of teens better. The last thing he wanted was her starting to think he'd actually hurt them. Though, to his relief, he found her laughing about it that night while they were hanging out with Tala and Maui.

"I just can't believe you'd be angrier about losing a few baubles than getting buried alive!" She would say with an astonished half-smile.

"Pff." Tamatoa huffed, fiddling with some trinkets.

"I'd believe it." Maui grinned. "Good ol' crab cake here knows exactly where he got each piece of his treasures and is _suuuper_ sentimental about all of 'em. Isn't that right, buddy?" He nudged the decapod in a teasing manner.

The crab scoffed, shoving him away with a claw as he rolled his eyes. "So what if I am?"

"Well, that's no surprise." Tala snickered mischievously. "The treasure's just compensation, after all."

Tamatoa gave her a completely deadpan look. _"What."_

"Not like that, you dumb crab!" The ghost cackled. She then shot him a look that seemed to see right through him. "It's compensation for the ugliness you feel inside, isn't it?"

The crustacean's expression changed to one of dumbfoundedness, his mind drawing a blank. "Oh Gods, I know right?" Moana agreed with the gramma-ray. "He always denies it!"

"Ugh. How's about a change of topic, huh?" Tamatoa grumbled, flicking away one of the shells on the shore.

"Whatever happened to you being your favourite subject?" Tala replied with the smuggest of grins, earning an unimpressed stare from the creature. Raising an eyebrow, she continued, "More importantly, why are you still beating yourself up on the inside? You're not as hideous as you seem to believe. Isn't Maui and Moana's friendship proof enough of that?"

On cue, both Maui and Moana beamed at the crustacean. "Yeah, crab cake!" Maui agreed. "We think you're awesome!"

 _Chock that up to bad taste._ Tamatoa commented to himself with another eye-roll. "Look, how many of these 'inner beauty' speeches do I have to go through? They're becoming tedious."

"As many as it takes for the message to sink in!" Moana laughed, winking.

"Yeah! Listen to the wise old lady, Tamatoa!" Maui chuckled, nudging him again. "Wisdom comes with age!"

"We're far older than Tala." He replied with a smirk.

"Ahh, maybe physically, but not up here~!" Tala grinned, tapping her forehead. The four of them shared a laugh, conversation continuing late into the night.

These people never seemed to fail at making Tamatoa feel better about himself. Their mere presence lifted his spirits in a way that could not be explained. How on Earth do they do it? How did he get so lucky?

He was so, so lucky to have such good people in his life.

But luck only goes so far.

And as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.


	34. Please Don't Murder The Author

_…_

 _Eugh._

 _Why does my head hurt…?_

Tamatoa lazily got to his feet, looking around confusedly. He didn't remember coming this far up the island.

 _… Eh. Whatever. Not the first time I fell asleep somewhere random._

Shrugging it off, he made his way back down to the village.

But the sight that greeted him was not of the pleasant sort. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The first thing he noticed was the lack of activity. Usually the village was buzzing with liveliness, but it was… uncharacteristically quiet. What is everyone doing…?

… Why were they all gathered around that… wrecked building…

Oh no. Was that _blood_ he smelled?

He immediately quickened his pace, but slowed again when he noticed the villagers giving him terrified looks. No one dared to breathe a word. The crab stepped cautiously, frowning slightly as he returned their scared looks with a confused one of his own.

In the middle of the wreckage was a set of four lifeless bodies along with Moana and Maui, backs turned to the crustacean. As far as he knew, they hadn't noticed him yet. Moana was kneeling on the ground, hugging someone in her arms. She sounded like she was crying.

Creeping quietly closer, Tamatoa tilted his head worriedly. "M… Moana…?"

Moana went still, moving only her head to glance back at him, eyes filled with tears.

Tamatoa's eyes widened when he saw that the body she was holding was Wikoli's. _Oh no. That must mean…_ He looked to the other bodies, suspicions confirmed when he saw that one of them was Pilipo's. The other two he wasn't sure about.

The crab was pulled out of his thoughts when Maui whipped around to face him. "You have the _nerve_ to show your face here again?!" He snapped.

Startled, Tamatoa took a few steps back. "What…?!"

"Oh, don't even **_try_** to deny it!" The demigod snarled, gesturing to the villagers. " ** _Everybody_** saw you! You going to say they're **_all_** _lying?!"_ Before the crustacean could respond, Maui continued angrily, "What, was your precious damned _treasure_ more important than everything we've been working towards?! And what did their family do to deserve this, huh?!"

 _Gods, no._

 _Not again._

 _Not the very thing I was trying to avoid all this time._

 _Please, no._

"Maui, please…" Moana sobbed quietly. She couldn't take the fighting. Not right now.

With another angry growl, Maui gripped his hook tightly, causing a bright blue glow. "Go on, get out of here!"

That threatening gesture was all it took. The crab immediately fled the scene at the sight of the glowing blue hook.

Maui watched him go, trembling. How could he do this? After everything, he would just give in to vengeance?

Moana seemed to be wondering the same thing. Why, after everything…? After he was so reluctant to even defend himself when her people first attacked him, could he really…?

She choked back another sob, stroking Wikoli's hair.

She couldn't think about it now.

She had to mourn.

…

…

…

Tamatoa wasn't sure how long he had been staring out at the water. Two, maybe three hours.

He just… couldn't… _process_ this…

He kept thinking of Maui, that familiar look of utter betrayal in his eyes. The _anger_ in his voice…

And Moana… She looked so… hurt… confused, _upset…_ Like the crustacean had just taken all of her help and kindness and threw it all away without a care in the world…

He buried his face in his claws. Never before had he felt so overrun with emotion and so hollow inside all at the same time.

When he had his falling out with Maui, he at least had his bitterness and anger driving him to move forward.

But now he couldn't be angry. Not at them. He just felt so… empty.

…

He messed up.

Somehow he messed up.

He couldn't even recall what had happened before he woke up. For all he knew, he could've been set off and flown into a blind rage.

He wouldn't put it past himself.

…

This was his fault.

He _knew_ it.

Why did he always have to _ruin everything…?_

How could he _stop this_ _horrible_ _feeling…?!_

 _…_

He looked out to the water again, a hushed thought crossing his mind.

 _… Maybe…_

 _Maybe if I just…_

Hesitantly, he started walking towards the sea.

 _… Everything would be better off, wouldn't it…?_

 _Nothing… Nothing I ever do amounts to anything, after all…_

 _I just hurt people…_

He stepped into the water, shaking slightly as the foggy emotions he was so unaccustomed to clouded his mind.

 _I can't live like this again…_

 _I just want it to_ _ **stop…**_

Taking a trembling breath, he took another step.

He was starting to get dizzy.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Tamatoa's antennae perked up, startled by the sudden voice, though who it belonged to was unmistakeable. He looked to the side to see a beautifully tattooed manta ray floating beside him. Wasn't dark enough for her bioluminescence to show her human form, he figured.

The ray swam in front of the large crustacean, blocking his path. Her voice was uncharacteristically stern. "I will not allow you to do this."

 _"Get out of my way."_ Tamatoa growled, doing everything he could to hide the tremble in his voice.

Tala stayed where she was. "I will not allow you to throw yourself away like this." She persisted, voice lowering. "You are being rash. Your feelings are misguided."

"I said _get out of my way!"_ The crustacean snapped, bringing a leg down to stomp on the ray.

Tala easily avoided it, tsking in annoyance. "And here I thought you were better than this. Would you really be so disrespectful as to give up on the ones who gave you hope in the first place?"

With an agitated snarl, Tamatoa continued to aim strikes at the ray. Though each strike would miss, as Tala was swifter than she looked.

"You would never hurt them." Tala continued, watching the crab analytically. "That much I am sure of. Do not let this rough patch destroy you!"

Finally, Tamatoa had pinned her with a claw. She fell silent under the weight of his grip.

The crustacean was shaking like a leaf, unable to hold that back anymore. Tala sighed quietly, watching him with a somber look. "You won't hurt me, Tamatoa. I'm not the one you want to kill."

Biting his tongue, he held on for a few moments. After finally accepting that she was right, he reluctantly let her go, looking away shamefully. "Please, just… leave me alone…"

Tala slowly floated towards the crab, speaking softly. "Only if you promise me that you will reconsider your options. Because this? This is not the answer."

Tamatoa withdrew a shaky breath, then gave her a small nod.

Tala nodded slowly in return. "Thank you." With that, she left him alone to dwell, as requested.

…

Back to staring at the sea he went. Deep in thought. Not sure what to think. Part of him still wanted to give in to the waves. But a tiny voice inside of him kept him from doing so. How long could he wait to get rid of that voice, he wondered…

Wondering would have to wait. Something on the beach distracted him.

Two villagers. They looked panicked. Not that Tamatoa really cared right now… it would take a lot more than that to grab his attention at the moment.

They were arguing about something. Tamatoa only caught bits and pieces of the conversation, as he wasn't paying much attention.

"… where to sail…"

"… how do we get them back…"

"… Maui…"

"… Moana…"

"… taken…"

"… monster…"

Wait, _what?_

Tamatoa shot up immediately, darting over to the pair and picking them up with his claws before they could even react.

"What happened?" The crab demanded, holding them close to his face.

"W-We don't know…!" One of them answered, both clearly terrified of the crab. "We were p-preparing funeral arrangements, and Maui was helping us and had his hook put aside, and—"

"Spit it out!" Tamatoa hissed, not having the patience to deal with this crap right now.

"These two flying monsters just came out of the sky and snatched them away before anyone could do anything!" The other villager blurted out.

Tamatoa's eyes widened in alarm. All at once the pieces started coming together. Looking from side to side, the crab racked his brain to come up with something.

 _Think, think, think…!_

Looking out to the water once more, an idea crossed his mind. Looking back to the two, he asked, "Can either of you sail?"


	35. When In Doubt, Use Brute Force

The trip to Lalotai's entrance was an awkwardly silent one. Not many words were said, aside from Tamatoa giving directions. He didn't like that he had to intimidate these villagers into taking him to Lalotai after everything that's happened, but it's not like he had much of a choice.

Looking out at the water, Tamatoa felt a pang of nervousness. Ironic, considering what he was planning to do before these villagers interrupted, but nonetheless…

Whatever. He couldn't focus on that now. Maui and Moana needed him, and he sure as hell wasn't going to turn his back on them now.

Luckily for them, Tui had held on to the Kakamora ship from that little beach fight. It was the only boat large enough to hold the ginormous crab. Tamatoa rummaged through the hull of the ship once more, looking over the supplies available to him.

Not much was left. Most of the stuff fell out when the thing tipped, it seems. Looks like there's just a few nets left and a small bundle of blowdarts.

Well, it's better than nothing. Who knows, maybe these items could be useful later. He placed them on his shell just in case.

"Is this it…?" One of the humans asked as they neared an intimidatingly tall rock structure.

Tamatoa nodded, stepping off of the boat as they reached shore. "I don't need you anymore." He stated starkly, not turning his eyes to them. "Head on back."

No hesitation there. The pair immediately pushed the boat back into the sea, getting as far away as they could as quickly as possible.

The crustacean stared up at the mountan-esque structure with frustration. He knew he had to get to that weird water portal thing, but how was he going to go about _doing_ that?

 _I could try to_ _climb_ _it and open that door on the top._

 _Ugh, that won't do any good. I'm too big to pass through that now._

Watching the rock tower contemplatively, he sighed and clicked his claws together. _I guess there's only one thing to do._

Fueled with anger and determination, he began smashing and slashing at the wall of stone with his powerful limbs, slowly but surely digging a hole through it. Sooner or later, he'd reach the watery entrance.

 _I'll get down there if it_ _ **kills**_ _me. Those monsters made a_ _ **big mistake**_ _with what they did._


	36. Tama's Too Pissed For Your Bird Bullshit

**_Crash!_**

Eugh. That was longer down than he had thought. Quickly shaking his head, Tamatoa did his best to recover from the fall so he could return to the task at hand. His claws and body ached from the struggle to gouge a large enough hole in that mountain, but he couldn't let that slow him down now. The crab trekked through Lalotai hurriedly, trying to figure out where Nafiira could possibly be.

 _Damn it all, she could be anywhere. This is like trying to find a needle in a-_

 _Oh wait, there she is._

Nafiira was perched on a low-hanging branch of a dead-looking tree, picking at the remains of a small bat monster she must've caught earlier.

 _"Hey!"_ Tamatoa shouted at her, making his way to the base of the tree. Unfortunately she was just out of the crab's reach.

Nafiira took her attention away from the prey to glance down at the crustacean. "Oh wow. Didn't expect _you_ to find your way back here."

"Cut the crap." The crab growled hatefully, narrowing his eyes. "Where are Moana and Maui?"

"None of your business."

"You **_really_** don't want to test my patience right now, Nafiira. Where are they?"

She smirked, amused by his concern for them. "Not telling. There's nothing you can do for the twerps anyway."

A threatening hiss came from Tamatoa. _"If you've hurt_ _ **either**_ _of them-"_

"What? Whatcha going to do about it, fish-for-brains?" Nafiira sneered, her smirk growing wider. She was confident that Tamatoa had changed, certain that a monster that decided to live with humans over his roots in Lalotai was far too soft to actually kill again. Tamatoa had the chance to kill her last time, after all, and he _didn't_. On top of that, he chose running away to protect his precious little _friends_ over fighting her like a  real monster. How laughably sad. "You've become too soft to get anything from us _real_ monsters. So shout all you want, but I know what kind of an influence those human things have had on you. You haven't got the _gall_ to get what you want from me, Tammy."

The crab twitched in response to the bird's condescending mannerisms.

 _To Hell with it. I don't have time for this._

With one swift movement, Tamatoa snapped the trunk of the tree in half, causing it to topple over. Nafiira squawked in alarm, barely able to jump off her branch in time to stay out of the crab's reach. She tried to fly away, but Tamatoa came prepared.

"Oh, no you don't." He snarled, grabbing one of the nets from off his back and launching it at her.

"What th-?!" The fowl was ensnared by the net, restraining her wings and causing her to fall to the ground. Before she could get back up and rip the net off, Tamatoa pinned her down with a leg.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" The crab hissed, a sinister grin appearing on his face. "Where. Are. They?"

Nafiira narrowed her eyes defiantly. "I'm not telling you a thing, bottom-feeder. Find them yourself." Clearly she still didn't believe that someone who lived with humans was capable of any real harm.

Oh, well. Her mistake.

With an annoyed click of the tongue, Tamatoa said, "You know, I am having a _reeeaaally_ bad day. I'm not in the mood for your antics. But hey, at least nobody can say I didn't _try_ to ask nicely." With that, the crab grabbed her left wing with a claw, then proceeded to rip a chunk of feathers out of her.

 _"Agh!"_ She gasped from the sudden pain. The bird started to raise her other wing to retaliate, but Tamatoa was quick to pin it down with his claw.

"Where are they?" He demanded, voice growing colder by the minute.

Nafiira only shook her head in response, her eyes maintaining that defiant glint.

That's it. Patience lost.

Tamatoa tightened his grip and broke her wing with ease, earning another sharp gasp of pain from the bird. Before she had the chance to respond, the angry crab flung her across the clearing.

"So you think I'm not a _fucking_ _ **threat?!**_ You think I won't **_destroy_** you if I find out they've been harmed?!" He lunged at the bird, snatching her in his claws and repeatedly slamming her into the ground. Stopping for just a moment, he held Nafiira up to his furious face, eyes burning with fury. "I am THIS close to thoroughly shredding you open and force-feeding your innards to you!"

Again, before she could respond, she was flung into a boulder.

 _"Where are they?!"_

Filled with rage, he smashed her with a claw, shattering the boulder she was against.

 _"_ _ **Where are they?!**_ _"_

He latched onto her by the tail and swung her around the clearing, smashing her into any object he could reach.

 _"_ _ **WHERE ARE THEY?!**_ _"_

With that final shout, the crustacean slammed Nafiira into the ground so hard that it made a slight crater. With the small moment he finally gave her to respond, she could barely catch her breath from the beating. Silent for a few seconds, she weighed her options. Considered her chances.

Apparently she still underestimated the crab's kill switch even after that thrashing, because all she did was cast him that same, defiant look.

Something must have snapped inside Tamatoa, because his entire demeanor changed in reaction to her persisting defiance. The fierce rage that had displayed in his eyes just moments before was now replaced with an ice-cold look of pure venom, a look that could chill even the fieriest of souls. His voice was even colder.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." He hissed, bringing his other claw to her left wing once more. "Mana'aihue must have promised you something _grand_ if you're being _this_ difficult..."

Doing everything she could not to tremble with fear, Nafiira said, "H-How did you kn-" She cut herself off with a gasp of pain as Tamatoa tightened his grip.

 _"I am not an idiot."_ He snapped, taking on a viciously threatening tone. "You being so insistent on getting Maui's hook last time? Someone that happens to apparently _perfectly_ resemble me attacking Motunui later on? Not as stupid as you think I am, babe." With another dark smile, he continued, "Nor am I as _merciful_ as you thought, isn't that right?" An evil chuckle rose from his throat as the fear in her eyes became more apparent. "Oh yes, I haven't forgotten how things work down here. I'm _just_ as familiar with Lalotai's ways as you, and let me tell you, it is a **_delight_** to be able to indulge in a bit of violence again~!" He laughed coldly as he broke her other wing, the yelp of pain from her being very satisfying to him. "But all good things must come to an end, unfortunately. I don't have time to scour all of Lalotai searching, and I'm becoming _very_ impatient with your reluctantness. I did not come all this way - I did _not_ cross the ocean, tear down a stone wall, plunge through a water portal, and plummet several stories to the ground just so YOU could stand in my way."

The crab moved a claw to her neck, narrowing his eyes to slits. "Last chance. The next thing I break will be your _skull."_ Leaning in threateningly, he snarled. _"Where are Moana and Maui?"_

Nafiira, though terrified, still couldn't bring herself to give up their location. Must have been promised something really damn good if she was still willing to risk calling Tamatoa's bluff.

"... Hm. What a shame." Tamatoa commented, any sign of mercy completely disappearing from his voice and eyes. "Well, you brought this upon yourself."

He raised a claw to finish her off, and Nafiira finally caved in. _"Okay, okay...!"_ She begged, voice hoarse from pain and fear. "H-He took them t-to your lair...! T-That's all I know, I swear...!"

The decapod lowered his claw, smirking victoriously. "Aw, thanks, babe. See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" He purred, voice dripping with sarcastic gratitude. Not giving her the chance to reply, he dragged her over to the fallen tree and hooked the net on the broken branches and splintering wood to trap her there.

"What are you doing...?!" Nafiira squawked, confused.

"Well, can't have you trying to get _away,_ now can I?" Tamatoa crooned as he turned to leave. "After all, if you've misinformed me, we'll have to have another... _chat."_ With that, the crab continued on his way, feeling assured that the fowl was too injured to break out of the net.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the crab quickened his pace, heading to his old home.


	37. OC DO NOT STEAL

(( So after proofreading this chapter I realize that the colour scheme is very similar to jadewolf's Mo'o in Future Legend and for that I apologize *slams head into desk for not realizing sooner*  
Anyway, sorry for not updating lately, I've been drowning in college homework. :'D I probably won't be very consistent over the next few weeks, as finals are coming up and I still have much I need to do, bUT HERE YOU GO HAVE A SHITTY OC DRAMA EDGELORD IN THE MEANTIME  
(Also sorry that Mana'aihue's motivations/tactics don't seem clear yet, I swear it'll make more sense soon *sobs*)

And lastly, a shoutout to Crow for all their reviews! Thanks man, I really appreciate them! :D ))

It didn't take the crab long to reach his destination. Tamatoa knew the way to his lair better than anyone else, after all. He also knew all the best hiding places along the way, and he kept himself expertly hidden on the way there. Well, as "expertly-hidden" as a 50-foot dazzlingly shiny monster crab could be, at least.

As he got closer to the lair's entrance, his antennae perked at the sound of thrashing nearby. There was a fight going on. Tamatoa couldn't see the ordeal past the Lalotai plantlife, but he swore he could make out a flash of blue.

 _Maui._

Protective instincts skyrocketing, all caution went out the window as Tamatoa barged into the clearing, claws snapping. His expression went blank, however, upon the sight that greeted him.

 _… T…_ _Two_ _Mauis?_

 _Oh, this is_ _ **not**_ _good._

The scene was confusing, to say the least. The first Maui, the one wielding the fish hook, was relentlessly beating on the second one. The second Maui was bound and gagged with what looked like remnants of that vine monster they had fought all those years ago. Despite Maui's usual immense strength, the vines would regenerate too quickly for the man to break them all off. He must've been very weakened from this beating. Or this one wasn't the actual Maui.

"Crab cake!" The first Maui exclaimed upon seeing the crustacean. He started to walk over to Tamatoa, but stopped in his tracks when the crab let out a chorus of warning chirps and snapped his pincers together. This could very well be his friend, but it could also be Mana'aihue. He couldn't tell for sure at the moment.

"Hey, no need for that…" The shapeshifter said with a frown. "Look, I… I get that I was wrong, and I'm really sorry, but…" Turning to face the second Maui and gesturing threateningly with the hook, he went on, "Look! This is the guy that framed you!" With a furious snarl, he proceeded to kick the downed Maui, earning a grunt of pain and a hostile glare from him. The attacker looked back to the crab, angling for a reaction. "He's got Moana hidden somewhere!"

Tamatoa narrowed his eyes slightly. Something didn't feel right about this, but he couldn't tell what was off. He took a few moments to stare at the first Maui, noticing something strange.

 _… Interesting._

Keeping a suspicious eye on the first Maui, he slowly walked towards the second. Tamatoa lifted his chin with a pincer, looking him over.

This Maui watched Tamatoa with somber, tired eyes, unable to say anything past the vines, but looking like he desperately wanted to.

Tamatoa kept his expression neutral and distant. It wasn't the eyes he was focused on, anyway.

"… So you've been trying to get him to surrender her location, eh?" The crab asked finally, turning his head slightly towards the armed Maui.

Concealing a cold smirk, the shapeshifter strode over to Tamatoa's side. "That's right."

"Heh… I see." The crab narrowed his eyes further, a slight smirk of his own stretching across his face as he eyed the beaten Maui. Taking a step forward, he continued, "Surely you wouldn't object to allowing _me_ take a shot at 'im, would you?"

"Be my guest." The being beside him encouraged.

With that, Tamatoa raised a claw, movements full of intent to squash this pathetic bug. However, instead of bringing his claw down on the injured one, the crab whipped around and smacked the first Maui full-force, sending him flying and causing him to drop the hook.

Not wasting a second, Tamatoa snatched the hook up off the ground and went to Maui's side, using the tool to slice off all the vines. Despite the slight awkwardness that came from using such a tiny tool, he managed to remove all the restraints.

As Tamatoa supported Maui to his feet by letting him lean on a claw, the demigod looked up at the crab with surprise. "H-How did you… know it wasn't me…?" He asked breathlessly.

"Yes, how?" The other creature growled as it recovered from the blow, glaring at Tamatoa with glowing now-amber eyes. "My recreation was flawless."

"Not quite." The crustacean chirped, staring down his opponent. "Don't get me wrong, you did pretty good… but there was just one _teensy_ little problem. Y'see, it's probably been a while since you've heard of Maui's 'accomplishments' recently, huh? You didn't take into account any new tattoos." With a smug smirk, Tamatoa moved Maui's necklace slightly to display his tattoo of Moana. "So you missed the most important one."

The creature's eyes widened. He glanced at his own chest, then looked back to Tamatoa and Maui with a snarl. In the blink of an eye, the creature lunged at the duo, a blaze-like flash of light enveloping him as he took on his true form. Reacting quickly, Tamatoa brought the claw that wasn't supporting Maui in front of them to block the attack, clashing with the beast as it made contact.

The creature was indeed like the rumours described him, but seeing it up-close was something else. His spreaded wings were massive, bedecked with shimmering black scales and thorny spikes lining the edges. His body was coloured like fire, sharp-ebony markings striping his skin. Two sets of horns protruded from the creature's head, the lower set like that of a ram's while the higher set more resembled that of an antelope's. He was indeed a reptilian-like creature, but his face almost looked human, aside from the lack of a nose and the terrifyingly chilling yellow-gold eyes. To top it all off, he seemed to be adorned with some kind of dark cloak.

Tamatoa could tell right away that this guy was either going to be some kind of huge edgelord, or the most dramatic of drama kings (next to himself, of course).

The fact that the creature only stood at half of Tamatoa's height didn't make the thing any less intimidating. It held such an air of dominance, amber eyes radiating a soul so dark that it felt like you could suffocate under his gaze alone. Tamatoa was already starting to feel uneasy, and took a few steps back.

"Clever crab…" Mana'aihue hissed, voice ice-cold. "It's a shame that you'll have to go to _waste._ " Immediately after that last statement, a bright shimmer overtook his dark wings.

 _Huh. Dramatic_ _ **and**_ _edgy._

With a flap of his wings, a flurry of blade-like scales were shot at the pair. A trick he must have gotten from Nafiira, Tamatoa realized. He shielded Maui and himself with his shell, then went to make his next move.

Plucking the Kakamora tranquilizer darts off his back, he darted at Mana'aihue and shoved the darts into his skin, wanting to stun the beast for as long as possible. The poison quickly took effect, making it much easier to wrestle the creature and shove him down the edge of a nearby ravine.

Not wasting any time, Tamatoa went back to his injured friend's side, carefully picking him up with a claw.

"T-Tamatoa… I'm _so_ … s-sorry—" Maui started to say, but the crab cut him off with a chirp.

"Yeah yeah, you were a jerk." He said curtly. "Don't really have time to talk about this right now. Moana's in there?" Tamatoa inquired, gesturing to his old, broken home.

When he got a weak nod of confirmation from the deity, Tamatoa placed him and the fish hook on his shell, then proceeded to head inside. They'd have to get out of here fast, as the crab was certain that the small dose of poison wouldn't inhibit Mana'aihue for long.

And he was right. Already, the creature was slowly but surely crawling back up the ravine, lights flickering around him as he tried using his newfound shapeshifting ability to better recover from the darts. The way he moved was beyond disturbing, as continuing the excessive shapeshifting made him look like a mass of disfigured, grotesque, squirming monster limbs from a distance.

Well, this was going to be fun.


	38. Stop Hitting Yourself

((HO-LY FUCK, THIS TOOK TOO LONG AND I AM SORRY *barrel-rolls away*  
Part of this fight was inspired by an ongoing thread with Glamorous-Revenge, so that's kinda cool, lol  
I'll try not to take this long with the next chappy. :'D ))

 _Rrrrrrip!_

She didn't even know she had it in her, but like _hell_ she was going to sit idly by as her friend was out there getting thrashed.

Like hell she would sit by and let this thing hurt _another_ one of her friends.

Tamatoa… They blamed _him_ for what happened at the village… This thing _framed_ him, and they…. _believed_ it…

The look of hurt in his eyes made so much more sense now.

A pang of guilt rushed through the girl, followed by a surge of anger and determination.

But these damn vines were so persistent.

When she would finally manage to tear some, they'd regenerate before she could do away with the others.

Rolling over to the wall of the cave, Moana started to scrape the vines against the rocky surface, hoping that would help.

 _Snap! Snap!_

Yes! It's working!

Quickening the pace, Moana ignored the scrapes starting to form on her skin. She couldn't dare stop now and let these accursed appendages repair themselves.

After a few moments that seemed like forever, she managed enough damage to crawl out of the vines.

"Aha!" She exclaimed victoriously.

Though her triumph was short-lived, as she jumped at the sound of something very large approaching.

Acting on instinct alone, Moana shot to the nearest plant she could hide behind, snatching a rock up off the ground as if that could give her some last-ditch effort of protection.

This was it.

This was going to be a matter of life or death.

And Moana wouldn't go down without a fight.

She could hear talking. Had she not been pumped on adrenaline, she may have realized that there were two voices. She might have recognized the voices to be friends of hers. She might have heard their panicked banter for what it was.

But she didn't.

She darted out of her hiding place with a fierce battle cry, raising the rock to strike.

But the sight that greeted the young chieftain caused her to freeze on the spot, dropping her weapon.

"T-Tama…?"

The familiar crab face that stared down at her with wide-eyed concern was undoubtedly the real deal, supported by the fact that a very injured demigod sat on the edge of his shell with a similar expression.

"Oh thank the Gods, you're okay!" The crab exclaimed, a relieved smile starting to stretch across his face. "We almost thought that—"

"… … …"

"… Uh… Babe…?"  
Tamatoa's tone was quick to shift to confused concern as the human latched onto his leg, sobbing.

"I-I-I'm s-so s-sorry…!" Her voice was hardly audible through the muffled crying, hugging the crustacean's leg so tightly, as if letting go would mean losing him forever. "Y-You must have f-felt s-s-so terrible, a-and I-I—W-We thought—" She trailed off, shaking her head shamefully.

At first the crab didn't know how to react. He just stared at her with blank, confused eyes.

"H-Hey now…" He finally managed to say, lowering his head to her level. "It wasn't your fault, nobody could have told the difference… P-Please don't cry…?" He wiped away a few tears with his antenna, frown deepening. "You _know_ how weird I am about waterworks."

That got a weak laugh out of her. "Y-Yeah… sorry…" Moana rubbed her face, looking up to give the crab a tentative smile, then looking at Maui. "A-Are you-?!"

"I've had better days, but I'm okay." Maui chuckled, casting her a weak grin of his own.

Sighing in relief, Moana leaned her head against the crab's leg again. They're here. Somehow they're both here, and relatively safe.

"I, uh, hate to be this guy, but…" The crab commented, lifting Moana up so she could get on his shell, "we really don't have time for all this right now. Crazy power-hungry monster out there and all."

 _"Aww, this is only our first time meeting and_ _ **that's**_ _what you have to say about me?"_

The voice that had come from the cave's entrance was dripping with sarcasm, yet had underlying tones of cruel calmness and ice.

The face it belonged to was much the same.

Tamatoa whipped around, claws snapping. "Haven't had enough yet, huh?! Get out of my way, or I'll knock that smug-ass grin right off your face!"

The words were spoken with almost enough venom to mask the crab's rising alarm. This creature was a thing of legend, after all. It _wrecked_ Maui. And who knows what other tricks it has up its sleeve?

Mana'aihue's cold smile only widened at the crustacean's intimidation attempt. "If your mind wasn't currently _racing_ with fearful thoughts, I might have believed you." The reptilian strode forward, movements smooth and deliberate down to each muscle shift. "You're not going anywhere. Not with those two, at least; I'm not done with them yet."

A chilling snarl rose from Tamatoa's throat. He was unable to mask his fear from the other monster, sure, but that emotion was slowly becoming overtaken by something more prominent.

Fierce, protective rage.

In an instant, the crab lunged at Mana'aihue, pincers aiming at any part of him he could rip off. Mana'aihue, however, was unimaginably fast, pivoting to the side in an instant to dodge. Had Tamatoa not anticipated such speed, his opponent may have gotten off without a scratch. But he was ready for it, reacting to the pivot with a quick snap and managing to rip out a chunk of wing.

Not even a flinch.

And to make matters worse, the wound had already begun to regenerate.

 _Of course,_ Tamatoa thought bitterly to himself, _Because_ _ **obviously**_ _he's gotten a hold of self-healing abilities. Can't have anything be easy now can we?_

The crab could only assume that skill was gained through the same vine monster Mana'aihue formed his binds from.

Used and discarded like nothing more than an expendable tool.

Normally monsters aren't that manipulative.

Normally monsters just primitively fight each other to the death and do what they can to survive.

But a monster that collects and controls others like some kind of puppeteer?

 _That's_ where things start getting dangerous.

Before Tamatoa could place another strike, he was blinded by an intense flash of light, now finding himself facing another sparkly 50-foot crab.

"Your biggest enemy has always been yourself, hasn't it?" The feigned crustacean crooned, imitating how Tamatoa snapped his claws. "Let's see how well you fare."

The line was followed with a swift swing to Tamatoa's head, the crab barely ducking in time to avoid it. More anger rose inside him at the sight of this _thing_ using his appearance.

The same appearance he used to destroy some of Moana's people.

With a fiery battle cry, Tamatoa pounced on the other, the cave being overtaken with a frenzy of snapping claws. Tamatoa grabbed the fake crab by the shell, somehow finding enough strength to hurl him into a nearby wall.

Then it went dark.

Well, so to speak. The bioluminescence that occurred lit up the cave in an array of greens, pinks, and blues.

It was no longer difficult to tell the Tamatoas apart, as the counterfeit didn't glow nearly as brightly.

As the fighting continued, Maui and Moana found it a struggle just to stay on their friend's shell. Moana's eyes scanned the crustacean's treasure-covered back, searching for anything that could possibly be useful. Surely with the mass of items collected, there would be _something,_ _ **anything**_ **,** that could help with the situation, some kind of weapon, or—

Aha! A sword!

Crawling through the mess of trinkets slowly and carefully, Moana reached for the handle of the weapon and pulled.

Crap. It's lodged in an old canoe. She yanked and yanked, but to no avail.

"Maui…!" She called desperately, glancing over at the demigod.

Maui shuffled over to assist, ignoring the protest from his wounds and struggling to keep from falling off the fighting crustacean.

 _Slam!_

This time, Tamatoa was the one thrown into a wall. Mana'aihue wrapped his claws around the other's neck, his characteristically cold smile accented by the harsh blue-pink markings.

"I can't imagine why you continue to bother."

Mana'aihue rammed into Tamatoa, causing a deafening crunch as he was slammed into the wall again. He raised a leg, bringing it down in the hopes of striking the other crab's face, but the original was quick to parry with his powerful claw.

"You've lost everything. Your home, your title, and now those you thought were your _friends_."

Latching his claws into Tamatoa's shell, Mana'aihue threw Tamatoa across the cave, Maui and Moana almost falling off at the rough landing.

"You think the humans will let you back on their island? Ha. That would be _laughably_ pathetic."

Before Tamatoa could get back to his feet, he found himself pushed back into the sand as the shapeshifter stepped down on him.

"You've got nothing left to live for. You've become too softened by human nature to even put up an entertaining fight."

Leaning down until he was eye-level with the downed crustacean, Mana'aihue's next string of words was drawn out in a cold, malevolent hiss.

"Luckily for you, I'm here to put you out of your miser-"

 _BAM!_

Big mistake to bring his head that close. Tamatoa can deliver a _mean_ headbutt, and he just did _not_ have any fucks left to give to care about the pain it caused to his own head.

The crab managed to daze the other for a just moment, and he took the chance to push himself out of the dirt, throwing Mana'aihue off balance. _"You know, I am_ _ **sick…**_ _"_ He began, shoving the demon aside, _"… of people like_ _ **you**_ _telling me what I am and what I am not…"_ Deflecting an oncoming blow, Tamatoa pushed Mana'aihue back even further, driving him into a corner, _"… telling me_ _ **how**_ _I should_ _ **feel**_ _and_ _ **who**_ _I should_ _ **be…**_ _"_ His voice grew colder with each word as he towered over the imitation of himself, _"… Thinking they know_ _ **every little thing**_ _about me because I'm_ _ **'SO**_ _damn readable'…"_ He raised both claws to strike. **_"WELL, READ_** ** _THIS_** ** _!"_** With the furious shout, he relentlessly smashed his claws into his opponent over and over again. Beyond satisfied with the startled look he got out of the once-completely-calm monster, Tamatoa didn't stop there; all in one swift movement, he pried himself under the other crab and propelled him into the air, causing him to fall with a hard _thud_ on his back. _"So long as these two_ _ **breathe,**_ _I have something to_ _ **goddamn live for!"**_ Like lightning from above, Tamatoa lunged, bringing his claws down to hit the creature square in the most sensitive part of his stomach.

Unfortunately, before the strike could land, Mana'aihue shifted back to his smaller, regular form, avoiding Tamatoa's massive claws with ease. Slipping away into the shadows, even the creature's glowing eyes disappeared from sight.

If Moana thought this glam crab couldn't glow any brighter, she was dead wrong.

With a blinding blue flash, Tamatoa illuminated every corner of the cave to try and find his opponent, but the other monster had completely vanished, his chilling laugh the only thing to be heard throughout the cave.

 _Greeeaaat,_ Tamatoa commented sarcastically to himself, _He has the power of camouflage, too…_

"I must admit you're stronger than I thought," Mana'aihue praised dryly, "but you are still no match for me _, former King."_

The threat was followed by another flash of blue, the form of a giant crab again barreling into Tamatoa. He hardly recovered in time to deflect the next attack.

Mana'aihue had a point. He has the upper hand in this fight, as Tamatoa had already wasted much energy on getting to Lalotai and taking down Nafiira. Evenly matched as they seemed, this wouldn't end well for Tamatoa if things kept going the way they did.

Unbeknownst Tamatoa and Mana'aihue, however, Moana and Maui had finally gotten a good hold of the sword they'd been aiming for. With both their strength combined, the two of them managed to pull the sword from its place.

Moana held it up, gripping it tightly, then glared over at the oblivious monster.

"If there really is a Hell," Mana'aihue purred, backing Tamatoa between a rock and a hard place in more ways than one, "I do hope you'll save me a seat."

The crab lashed out his arms, claws outstretched and ready to snap off Tamatoa's head, but what he was met with instead caused him to skitter backwards with a shocked roar.

Moana had leaped off of Tamatoa's shell, yelling angrily as she plunged the sword just below Mana'aihue's neck.

Tamatoa's eyes widened. He didn't see Moana resort to violence often, but when she did, she meant business. Taking the moment of his opposition's distraction, Tamatoa grabbed Moana, shoving the injured crustacean aside and making a beeline for the exit.

Writhing in pain and frustration, Mana'aihue shifted to his original form for just a moment, ripping the sword out of his shoulder with a snarl. Turning around, he chased after the escapees in the form of the shiny 50-foot crab.

One would think a humungous, sparkling beacon-of-light crustacean would be difficult to hide in the dark areas of Lalotai, but somehow Tamatoa managed it, quickly finding a perfect shroud of foliage to conceal himself and his friends. Remaining still and quiet, they watched from their hiding place as their attacker searched.

"I don't get it," Tamatoa whispered, too quietly for Mana'aihue to hear, "He got the power to shapeshift from you. What else could he possibly want?"

"The Heart of Te Fiti," Maui answered grimly, earning a surprised look from the crab. "That's what he was trying to get out of me earlier. Its location. He was probably going to try and use Moana if I didn't talk."

Frowning deeply, Tamatoa returned his attention to the other monster, saying nothing.

"What if he starts to read our minds to find us or something…?" Moana murmured worriedly.

"I don't think he can use more than one power at a time." The crustacean replied, eyes still on the transformed monster. "If he _could_ , then he would've known I was going to sucker punch 'im back with Maui, and he wouldn't have had to change forms to camouflage."

Or so the crab hoped that was the case. It was the only explanation that made sense right now.

The Gods must have been smiling down on the trio, because Mana'aihue moved on out of sight without locating them.

Waiting until he was absolutely sure the creature was gone, Tamatoa slowly crept out of their hiding place.

"Can you still shapeshift, man?" The crab asked as he set Maui and Moana carefully down.

"Let's see…" The demigod nimbly gripped his hook, giving it a wave. There was a small spark, then a flash as he transformed into a hawk. Looking over his body and wings, he grinned. "Heh! Not so much a stealer of powers and more of an acquirer, huh?"

Tamatoa nodded slowly, relieved. "Good. You'll be fine to head back, then." The crab then turned to face his old, broken home, picking at the fallen rocks and starting to put them back into place.

"Wh… What are you doing…?" Moana asked, eyes filled with confusion and concern.

"Yeah… You're heading back _with_ us, aren't you, crab cake?" Maui followed up her inquiry, shifting back into his humanesque form.

"Heh." Tamatoa laughed under his breath, not turning to look at them as he continued what he was doing. "I'm not going back up there."

The stretch of silence that occurred after that was only filled by the sound of the crab moving rocks.

"… What…?" Moana breathed, voice at a shocked whisper and a look of hurt all over her face.

Tamatoa glanced back for a moment, trying to ignore the pang of guilt her expression gave him. "H-Hey, don't look at me like that… I think we can _all_ agree that monsters don't belong on the surface after that… village fiasco…" He tried to string the sentence together with an indifferent tone of casualness, but he couldn't hide the sorrow in his voice.

Looking away, he sighed. "… I'm sorry… I can't… I don't want to hurt or scare anybody, and I just… I wouldn't be able to _live_ with myself if I—if I ruined our friendship, and-"

He cut himself off as Moana hugged his leg again, tears starting to fill her eyes once more. "You are _not_ at fault for _any_ of this." She said immediately, shaking. "Y-You… even after we blamed you, you came back for us, and…" Shaking her head, her voice started to tremble. "I can't let you just _stay_ down here in misery and loneliness as you _blame_ yourself for everything that went wrong, a-and—" She choked on her words, unable to continue.

Maui stepped forward slowly, voice firm. "Tamatoa… You were set up... Please, don't… don't _punish_ yourself for what somebody else did, for how we _believed_ him… I just…" The demigod sighed, shamefully putting his face in his hands. "We're so sorry, crab cake. I'm so sorry."

Tamatoa stared at them for several seconds, not sure how to react. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again as he couldn't produce any words.

It wasn't his fault.

It was such a relief to hear them say it.

With a shaky sigh, the crab laid down, gently pulling the pair close with a claw. "If it's not my fault, then it's not your guys's, either. We _all_ got screwed by that devil." He paused, a worried thought creeping in the back of his mind. "The villagers…?" He inquired softly.

"We'll explain everything, we'll… we'll figure it out." Moana whispered, "It'll be okay. We can get through this."

The three of them sat there in restful silence for many minutes, just relieved to be in each other's company again.

"… You owe me your fish hook." Tamatoa said suddenly with a slight smirk, opening one eye to look at Maui.

"What?" Maui replied with a confused smirk of his own.

"I told ya things would end up disastrously." The crab snickered, clacking his pincers expectantly. "Gimme."

"Pfft. Not over yet, crab cake." Maui said, giving the claw a teasing, light tap with his hook. "We've still got a long way to go." The shapeshifter's expression went a little serious for his next string of words. " _And_ a power-thieving monster to stop."

"But how will we know what his next move will be?" Moana piped up, frowning slightly. "He's been so good at staying under the radar all these years, and we can't go after him like _this_."

Tamatoa imitated her frown, thinking over their options.

His frown twisted into a sly grin as an idea came to him.

"Oh, I think I may know a little bird that will tell us."


	39. Sing Like A Bird, Pardon The Pun

"You _seriously_ expect me to tell you?"

Fortunately, Nafiira was still stuck where Tamatoa had left her.

 _Un_ fortunately, she was being very uncooperative.

"S'not like you have much of a _choice_ , babe." Tamatoa growled in response, nearing the bird with snapping claws. "You're not helping anybody by ignorin' our questions, least of all yourself."

The feathered monster let out a short cackle, albeit a bit of a forced one. "I've told you enough. Nothing I say can help you now—"

She was cut off as the crab snatched up the net and dangled her in the air, holding her at eye level _. "I didn't ask for your opinion on the matter."_ He growled sharply. "You _are_ going to tell me what that demon's next move'll be way or the other…" A familiar sadistic grin stretched across his face as he went on. "… but whether we do this the easy way or the _hard way_ is completely up to you, babe."

Nafiira gulped nervously at the sight of Tamatoa's malicious expression, but held her position. Somehow she even managed to hold that shit-eating smirk. "H-Heh heh… Like you'd hurt me when that _girl's_ hanging around…" She hissed, flicking her head in Moana's direction. "I hear 'peaceful resolution' is kinda her shtick." The sentence was followed by a mocking laugh, as if the very idea was the most ridiculous thing in the world. "I doubt she'd let you hurt poor, defenceless me right under her nose."

Moana and Maui had been standing on the sidelines, allowing Tamatoa to handle the interrogating. But upon hearing Nafiira's retort to the crab, Moana's eyebrows shot up. Maybe under any other circumstances, she _would_ have looked for a more peaceful solution, but right now? The co-chief was too mad at this monster for her part in all this, and she _certainly_ didn't take kindly to being used as a cop-out on top of that.

"Who, _me?_ " She said, placing a hand on her chest. Her eyes were wide with feigned innocence. " _I_ don't see anything out of the ordinary!" Moana turned around, hands moving to her hips as she looked around Lalotai. "Hey Maui, do _you_ see anything I'm supposed to be objecting to?"

"Nope." Maui smirked, eying Nafiira with folded arms. He clearly had no problem with how the situation was being handled, either. If anything, the demigod found it entertaining. "Just another day in the Realm of Monsters."

The bird's small smile finally faltered as her last hope of safety was crushed. Watching the shift of attitude only made Tamatoa grin wider.

"Thought you'd get out of this _that_ easy?" He purred, bringing Nafiira closer to his face. "Guess again, _mon petit oiseau._ Mercy isn't on _anybody's_ mind today after what you did." Narrowing his eyes, that familiar venomous tone was all too clear with his next snarl. _"Let's try this again, shall we?"_

That seemed to do the trick. Nafiira was quick to scramble helplessly inside the net, giving in at last. "Okay, okay, okay…!" She chittered, "I-I'll tell you whatever I can, just don't hurt me…!"

 _Hmph. Good. So she's not a_ _ **complete**_ _idiot._

Dropping her to the ground none too lightly, Tamatoa stepped on the bird to hold her down, watching her expectantly. "How many other allies does Mana'aihue have?"

"Oh, loads!" Nafiira answered immediately, not daring to make Tamatoa wait a second too long. "He's got a huuuge following! But of course, _I'm_ his right-hand monster. The others are merely tools." She couldn't help but say it with a flicker of pride. After all, who _wouldn't_ be proud of being so useful to someone so powerful? "But yeah, with the amount of monsters he's got at his disposal? You guys wouldn't stand a _chance!_ "

That last part was said just a little too chipperly for Tamatoa's taste, and so the bird earned a sharp kick from him. "Why all the fuss, huh?" He hissed with narrowed eyes. "I _know_ he promised you something. If he's got all this support like you say, he must be dishing out something _preeetty_ good."

The fowl-like monster chittered quietly with a nervous shake of her feathers, shaken by the kick. "… 'Her heart held the greatest power ever known. It could create life itself'…"

"… and Te Fiti shared it with the world'." Moana finished quietly.

"Precisely." Nafiira said, sparing a quick glance the girl's way. "The power of creation. Not only that, but the power to _share_ that power." She returned her full attention to the crab. "Mana'aihue has promised his followers the gift of immortality. _Eternal life."_ A greedy little grin stretched across her beak. "And hey, selfish shellfish, s'not too late to get behind that deal. You sure you're on the right side of the battlefield, here? You should be fighting alongside your monster brethren, for a better future for us, not alongside these…" She cast Maui and Moana a dark glare, Maui in particular. "… _things_."

And here he thought she'd learn by now.

Delivering another hard kick to the bird's side, Tamatoa snarled threateningly. "Oh, don't go pulling that 'brethren' crap on me _now_. After all…" A snide smirk appeared on his face. "… _you're_ the one who said I'm not a ' _real_ monster', aren't you?"

Circling the bird idly, the interrogation continued. "What's Mana'aihue planning to do next?"

"I-I don't know, exactly—I-I mean, he was going to t-take the demigod with him to T-Te Fiti to give up the location of the Heart…" She took a quick breath, not wanting to hesitate for the fear of getting thrashed again, "H-He was going to hurt the girl if Maui didn't talk—" That earned a sharp growl from both Tamatoa _and_ Maui, causing the bird to jolt back in alarm. "B-B-But you just _ruined_ all that, so…!"

"What even is the _point_ of that?" Tamatoa barked in exasperation, his irritated chirps growing louder by the minute. "Why doesn't he just freakin' find it _himself_ instead of going through all this trouble?"

"Hey, believe it or not, this way's faster. And time is of the essence." Nafiira replied, "The guy's been staying off the radar ever since the 'Lemuria' incident, see? 'Cause the Gods are supposed to think he's dead, right? _Centuries_ went by and the guy managed to stay hidden as nothing more than an old tale!" She gave a quiet cackle. "Well anyways, that Maui guy knows _exactly_ where the Heart is hidden on the island. An' he wanted to be in an' outta there before Te Fiti knew what hit her. Since Mana had to swing by Motunui anyways to get a hold of Maui's hook, we figured, 'Hey, why not just take those two back with us'? It's like hitting two birds with one st—" She cut herself off with an awkward laugh, realizing that probably isn't the best metaphor to use right now. "Uh, anyway, that was that… But since that plan's all messed up now, I'm guessin' the only other option is to just go ahead find it himself."

Everyone was quiet now, Maui and Moana exchanging concerned glances while Tamatoa kept his attention firmly on Nafiira.

His expression was borderline unreadable, his mouth twisted into a sort of semi-smile, yet any other facial feature showed no sign of emotion.

"… I see… Good to know… Oh, and one more thing…" Any hint of a smile suddenly melted away, leaving behind only the rawest of unbridled rage. Roughly yanking her net back into the air and ramming her against the fallen tree, the crustacean roared, _"Why was I_ _ **framed**_ _for murdering those kids?!_ _ **Why did they have to**_ _ **die**_ _ **for**_ _ **any**_ _ **of this?!"**_

Nafiira's eyes shot wide open with terror, gasping in shock and pain when she made contact with the tree. "T-T-That was Mana'aihue's idea, I swear…! W-When he saw you under those r-rocks, a-and when Maui came by, h-he read your minds to find out the connection, a-and—Uh—"

 _"And_ _ **what?!**_ _"_ Tamatoa snarled, bringing her towards his face once more.

 _"Eep!"_ The bird peeped, covering her own face with eyes squeezed shut. "H-He saw you as the perfect _distraction_ , that's all! The way things played out, not only did it have _those_ two lettin' their guards down, but it kept _you_ out of the way while we nabbed 'em!"

A _distraction?_

 _A_ _ **distraction?!**_

With another ferocious roar, the crab threw Nafiira across the clearing, and she plummeted roughly to the ground, tumbling several feet even after landing.

That someone would use people like that… like _disposable pawns_ in some sick, twisted _game… it was all so_ _ **infuriating**_ _._

Not giving her even a _second_ between attacks, Tamatoa lunged across the clearing after her, picking up the net she was tangled in and swirling her in circles above his head before slamming her into the ground over and over again. Splatters of blood started to decorate the ground, the bird's mangled cries of agony cutting through the air before gradually dwindling away.

Maybe he can't get a hold of the mastermind, but he could at least do something about this damned _stooge_.

Throwing her to the ground with all the same force from their earlier encounter, Tamatoa raised his claws, murderous intent written all over his face.

 _"Wait!"_ Moana called, getting in between the two monsters. The look she gave Tamatoa held no judgment for how he was acting, thankfully, but rather just a desperate desire for the crab to hear her out.

He lowered his claws immediately as Moana got between them, but the fire of vengeance burning brightly in his eyes didn't fade one bit. "Moana, if I leave her alive—"

"—she'd come back later and make us regret sparing her, I know… but think about it; what if we can still _use_ her?" Moana contemplated, raising an eyebrow.

The crab leaned his head to the side a bit, looking skeptical… but mildly curious. "… Go on."

"Well, we know that Mana'aihue makes heavy use of her… She even said _herself_ that she's basically his right-hand monster." She explained, glimpsing at the bird. "And we know this Mana'aihue guy is opportunistic and uses other people as he needs… _Sooo_ , if he still has _uses_ for Nafiira, we might be able to use her as… I don't know, bait or something…?"

The uncertainty in her contemplation was far from comforting, a concern the crab translated well through his unconvinced expression. " _Might?_ That's takin' on a lotta trouble for somethin' that might not even work, babe…"

Moana simply shrugged. "Just a thought. And even if _that_ doesn't work out, then we could always just keep her around for information. This guy's a wild card, after all, and having someone that knows him as well as Nafiira seems to would _definitely_ be useful."

… Hmph. She had a point, Tamatoa supposed… Using Nafiira to better know how Mana'aihue's mind works would surely be helpful… and she _could_ make good bait if the circumstances were fitting…

"… Okay, fine." He conceded. "But on _one_ condition! She gets _muzzled_ whenever we're not using her!" Tamatoa didn't have near the same level of patience as Moana did, after all, and he was _sure_ he'd go nuts if he had to listen to that bird running her mouth all day…

Hmm… Moana was hoping to try and talk some sense into her while they had her around, but… that was a fair enough request, considering the other monster's nasty streak. With another shrug, the chief-to-be agreed. "Alright."

"Waaay ahead of you guys!" Came Maui's voice as he approached the bird, the vines that had bound them before now in his hands. Apparently the demigod had gone to the lair and back for the appropriate muzzle while Moana and the crab were negotiating. How conveniently foresightful of him.

It didn't take long to tie up her beak and toss the bird onto Tamatoa's back, as she had fallen unconscious from the beating.

"Back to the surface…?" Moana said unsurely, resting on the edge of the crab's shell with Maui.

With a slow nod, Tamatoa repeated, "… Back to the surface."

Finally, the trio was off, leaving Lalotai behind them for the second time.


	40. The Therapist Friend

((*wheeze*

I have officially become one of those writers that is very slow with updates and I apologize  
This chapter feels really awkward for some reason sorry guys :'P  
(also holy crap one of my IRL friends (MY SUPER-SKILLED AUTHOR FRIEND NONETHELESS) found out about this and is reading it and i'M DYING OH MY GOD CHLOE IF YOU'RE STILL READING THIS I AM STILL SO SORRY FOR MY AWKWARD AF WRITING)

"Hey Fab, why didn't you just have the ocean take them back like last time?"  
"becAUSE I DIDN'T THINK MY DECISIONS THROUGH UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE OKAY *sobs*"))

((Also sorry if I haven't responded to some reviews lately, my inbox/outbox/notification system has been acting weird. But just know that I appreciate all your reviews, thank you so much!))

While getting the Kakamora ship from Motunui back to the Lalotai entrance island was far from an easy feat, it wasn't impossible for a demigod and master wayfinder such as Maui.

Well… Maybe it would be more accurate to say "stealing" rather than "getting". Making his presence known to the villagers right now did not feel correct. Not without Moana there. An explanation would be better with both of them present, that's for sure…

The wind and sea were on the demigod's side, it would seem, as the they made sure that his return to pick up Moana and Tamatoa was both figuratively and literally a breeze.

The trip back was much easier, still, now that Moana was around to assist. This wasn't exactly a 'one-person' ship, after all. A crew would be preferable, but hey, they'll make do with what they can.

Exhaustion seems to have rapidly caught up with Tamatoa, hitting him like a truck, as the crab took to sleeping mere moments after their craft left the entrance island's shores. Considering his apprehension towards the deep sea, that must be saying something.

And by some happy miraculous miracle, Nafiira hadn't yet stirred.

With both monsters unconscious, Maui and Moana had the the whole way back to themselves, sailing along the ocean with nothing but each other's company just like their first trip to Te Fiti. (Granted, Heihei was there that time. But hey, a minor detail.)

… Buuut the crippling tension of recent, obvious events seems to have crept its way on board, as the pair were uncharacteristically quiet for quite some time.

A Heihei would be nice right now, actually. Perfect tension-reliever. But alas, no drumstick this time 'round.

Manning the ship kept them busy enough, anyway. But Moana couldn't help but notice the demigod casting the occasional conflicted glance Tamatoa's way.

"… I… It'll be okay… We'll work this out…"

Weak words. They both knew it.

Lives have been lost. That's not something that can be "worked out".

Still, the shapeshifter gave her a slight nod, if only to acknowledge her statement. His gaze was now firmly set on the crustacean. Moana's frown deepened.

"… It was that Mana'aihue guy's fault… You know that, right…?"

"You don't _get it,_ Moana." Maui snapped in response – not so much out of anger, but rather exasperated frustration with himself. "There I was, thinking nothing in the _world_ would make me turn on him like that again, and I…" With an annoyed sigh, the demigod let working the sail take his attention. His voice was now nothing more than a barely-audible mumble. "And there I was, ready to take off another leg."

Moana slowly drew her oar out of the water, setting it down on the deck as she started towards Maui. She could understand why he would be taking this particularly badly, considering his history with the crab… To him, he must feel like he was on the verge of repeating millennium-old mistakes. But what more reassurance could she _give_ that hasn't been said already…? Tamatoa said himself that he doesn't blame them for this. Could _understand_ it, even…

… But it's doubtful that that alone would magically lift all the weight of this stress off Maui's shoulders, of course.

That's the thing about being the therapist friend. You can see _why_ everyone's upset, and also when certain issues are going to be particularly difficult to work through… Hnngh. Problems.

Rather than opening with words again, Moana moved in for a gentle hug.

Now _that_ seemed to catch Maui off guard. The demigod stared down at her with a look of surprise at first, before tentatively returning the hug, slowly but surely giving in to her warmth.

"… Don't give the monster what he wants, Maui." Moana said softly. "We can't let him break us down. Even if he knows where to hit, where our weakest spots and most fragile memories are… We will _not_ let him win." She gazed up at him, the fiery determination lighting her eyes being a bit of a contrast to the quiet gentleness of her voice. "Right?"

He was quiet for a short while, just taking a moment to stare at this remarkably strong-willed divinity of a human. How one mortal could be so incredibly inspirational through even the hardest of times he would never know. "Right." He repeated, mustering up a smile.

They both jumped at the next voice to pipe up.

"Sooo…" Came Tamatoa's lighthearted drawl, one eye half-open to lazily stare at the pair. "Who's steerin' this thing, exactly?"

At that, both of the bipeds immediately went back to their posts, Moana making sure they were still on course before flashing a sheepish grin at the crustacean. "Sorry for waking you."

Her grin was returned with a tired one of his own. "Didn't wake me, babe. Y're fine," was his low-pitched response.

Moana and Maui exchanged glances. How much of their conversation he had heard was uncertain, but Tamatoa certainly made no attempt to confirm or deny their unspoken inquiries.

Rather, he slowly rose to his feet with a sleepy chitter, glancing over his shell to check on their unconscious captive before returning his attention to his friends. "Need any help handlin' the boat?"

It's not like he could offer much, what with his claws not being the friendliest for human-sized sailwork, but might as well offer nonetheless.

"I think we'll be okay, thank you," Moana replied with a polite smile. "It'd be best if you get some more sleep." _Before we reach Motunui,_ she may have added. But she doubted anyone needed the reminder of their destination.

The crab's eyes drifted between different parts of the boat before returning to Moana. "… Ya sure?"

At her nod, Tamatoa shrugged and turned to settle down again with a passing glance Maui's way. The demigod hadn't said anything, nor did he need to.

Must've heard more of their conversation than he let on, because the crab settled himself rather close to the shapeshifter, as if _very_ aware of his friend's uncertainties right now…

Maui gave a subtle look to the crustacean as he dozed off again, expression unreadable. Whether or not the other's gesture was _meant_ as some kind of display of trust or comfort, Maui couldn't help but feel a little touched. A hint of that showed in his face for just a moment.

Watching from her position near the edge of the ship, another smile crept along Moana's features. It's wonderful what can be communicated without words.

She then turned her attention to the horizon, expression becoming more serious upon seeing the island gradually becoming visible in the distance.

Let's just hope the explanation to the villagers goes as smoothly as this boat ride.


End file.
